Abstract
BackgroundAnthozoan cnidarians are amongst the simplest animals at the tissue level of organization, but are surprisingly complex and vertebrate-like in terms of gene repertoire. As major components of tropical reef ecosystems, the stony corals are anthozoans of particular ecological significance. To better understand the molecular bases of both cnidarian development in general and coral-specific processes such as skeletogenesis and symbiont acquisition, microarray analysis was carried out through the period of early development – when skeletogenesis is initiated, and symbionts are first acquired.ResultsOf 5081 unique peptide coding genes, 1084 were differentially expressed (P ≤ 0.05) in comparisons between four different stages of coral development, spanning key developmental transitions. Genes of likely relevance to the processes of settlement, metamorphosis, calcification and interaction with symbionts were characterised further and their spatial expression patterns investigated using whole-mount in situ hybridization.ConclusionThis study is the first large-scale investigation of developmental gene expression for any cnidarian, and has provided candidate genes for key roles in many aspects of coral biology, including calcification, metamorphosis and symbiont uptake. One surprising finding is that some of these genes have clear counterparts in higher animals but are not present in the closely-related sea anemone Nematostella. Secondly, coral-specific processes (i.e. traits which distinguish corals from their close relatives) may be analogous to similar processes in distantly related organisms. This first large-scale application of microarray analysis demonstrates the potential of this approach for investigating many aspects of coral biology, including the effects of stress and disease.
Highlights
Anthozoan cnidarians are amongst the simplest animals at the tissue level of organization, but are surprisingly complex and vertebrate-like in terms of gene repertoire
Candidates for roles in nematocyst development, receipt of settlement cues and the implementation of metamorphosis may be represented in cluster II or cluster III
Genes involved in the early stages of calcification are predicted to occur in cluster IV and cluster III
Summary
Anthozoan cnidarians are amongst the simplest animals at the tissue level of organization, but are surprisingly complex and vertebrate-like in terms of gene repertoire. Members of the basal cnidarian Class Anthozoa, which includes the sea anemone Nematostella and the coral Acropora, have proved to be surprisingly complex and vertebrate-like in terms of gene repertoire [1,2,3], and are of particular interest. Scleractinian corals are of fundamental ecological significance in tropical and sub-tropical shallow marine environments as the most important components of coral reefs. Both the general molecular principles of cnidarian development and many aspects of the functional biology of corals are only poorly understood.
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