The Genetic Basis of Specificity in Dinoflagellate-Invertebrate Symbiosis
Abstract
The aim of the study is to understand how marine invertebrates can distinguish between certain dinoflagellates with which they form symbioses, and others with recognition involving algal cell wall-associated proteins/ protetoglycans that inter-act with receptors on the animal cel symbiosome membrane. We have successfully isolated cell walls from three symbiotic dinoflagellate species that have been grown in axenic culture. These three species of algae represent examples of a) a species compatible with a test host, b) a species that is initially accepted, but ultimately rejected, and c) a species that is not accepted. SDS-PAGE analyses of the solubilised cell wall fractions illustrated that (i) the cell walls of all three species of dinoflagellates contained a complex of proteins/proteoglycans ranging in apparent molecular size from about 13.5 to about 200 kD and (ii) that some of these polypeptide species were common to all three algal species, while others were unique to one species only. These are the first data showing protein/ proteoglycans associated with dinoflagellate cell walls. In addition, we have also found that one species of symbiotic dinoflagellate releases a range of polypeptides/proteoglycans when cultured in vitro, raising the novel possibility that released proteins/proteoglycans could be the signals passing between symbiont and host.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 21, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA209812
Entities
People
- Robert K. Trench
Organizations
- University of California, Santa Barbara