scholarly journals Common Environmental Pollutants Negatively Affect Development and Regeneration in the Sea Anemone Nematostella vectensis Holobiont

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Klein ◽  
Victoria Frazier ◽  
Timothy Readdean ◽  
Emily Lucas ◽  
Erica P. Diaz-Jimenez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Environmental Pollutants ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Potassium Nitrate ◽  
Sea Anemone ◽  
Environmental Stressors ◽  
Nematostella Vectensis ◽  
Early Exposure ◽  
Changing Environments

The anthozoan sea anemone Nematostella vectensis belongs to the phylum of cnidarians which also includes jellyfish and corals. Nematostella are native to United States East Coast marsh lands, where they constantly adapt to changes in salinity, temperature, oxygen concentration and pH. Its natural ability to continually acclimate to changing environments coupled with its genetic tractability render Nematostella a powerful model organism in which to study the effects of common pollutants on the natural development of these animals. Potassium nitrate, commonly used in fertilizers, and Phthalates, a component of plastics are frequent environmental stressors found in coastal and marsh waters. Here we present data showing how early exposure to these pollutants lead to dramatic defects in development of the embryos and eventual mortality possibly due to defects in feeding ability. Additionally, we examined the microbiome of the animals and identified shifts in the microbial community that correlated with the type of water that was used to grow the animals, and with their exposure to pollutants.

Starlet Sea Anemone (Nematostella vectensis) 2021 Environmental Summary, Reptile & Aquatics, Stowers Institute for Medical Research v1

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane C. Miller ◽  
Diana P Baumann ◽  
M. Shane Merryman
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Medical Research ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Sea Anemone ◽  
Nematostella Vectensis ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Impact Research

The starlet sea anemone (Nematostella vectensis) is an emerging model organism, and we have maintained a colony at the Stowers Institute since 2007. Nematostella are known as a simple sea anemone, related to other cnidarians such as jellyfish and corals. Native to estuarine environments across the Atlantic coast of North America, from Novia Scotia to Florida, they encounter a variety of environmental conditions (e.g., temperature, salinity). Acknowledging that husbandry conditions and environmental parameters can impact research results we provide information about the housing, nutrition, maintenance, and health for our colony of Nematostella. This information will be applicable to any Nematostella housed in the facility in 2021.

scholarly journals Cellular pathways during spawning induction in the starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelly Reuven ◽  
Mieka Rinsky ◽  
Vera Brekhman ◽  
Assaf Malik ◽  
Oren Levy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Fatty Acid Metabolism ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Acid Metabolism ◽  
Light Exposure ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Sea Anemone ◽  
Nematostella Vectensis ◽  
Minor Effect

AbstractIn cnidarians, long-term ecological success relies on sexual reproduction. The sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, which has emerged as an important model organism for developmental studies, can be induced for spawning by temperature elevation and light exposure. To uncover molecular mechanisms and pathways underlying spawning, we characterized the transcriptome of Nematostella females before and during spawning induction. We identified an array of processes involving numerous receptors, circadian clock components, cytoskeleton, and extracellular transcripts that are upregulated upon spawning induction. Concurrently, processes related to the cell cycle, fatty acid metabolism, and other housekeeping functions are downregulated. Real-time qPCR revealed that light exposure has a minor effect on expression levels of most examined transcripts, implying that temperature change is a stronger inducer for spawning in Nematostella. Our findings reveal the mechanisms that may enable the mesenteries to serve as a gonad-like tissue for the developing oocytes and expand our understanding of sexual reproduction in cnidarians.Summary statementAnalysis of transcriptional changes during spawning induction in Nematostella vectensis, revealed upregulation of processes related to signal perception and cytoskeleton rearrangement and downregulation of fatty acid metabolism and housekeeping processes.

scholarly journals Cellular pathways during spawning induction in the starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelly Reuven ◽  
Mieka Rinsky ◽  
Vera Brekhman ◽  
Assaf Malik ◽  
Oren Levy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Light Exposure ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Sea Anemone ◽  
Nematostella Vectensis ◽  
Minor Effect ◽  
Developmental Studies ◽  
Ecological Success ◽  
A Minor

AbstractIn cnidarians, long-term ecological success relies on sexual reproduction. The sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, which has emerged as an important model organism for developmental studies, can be induced for spawning by temperature elevation and light exposure. To uncover molecular mechanisms and pathways underlying spawning, we characterized the transcriptome of Nematostella females before and during spawning induction. We identified an array of processes involving numerous receptors, circadian clock components, cytoskeleton, and extracellular transcripts that are upregulated upon spawning induction. Concurrently, processes related to the cell cycle, fatty acid metabolism, and other housekeeping functions are downregulated. Real-time qPCR revealed that light exposure has a minor effect on expression levels of most examined transcripts, implying that temperature change is a stronger inducer for spawning in Nematostella. Our findings reveal the potential mechanisms that may enable the mesenteries to serve as a gonad-like tissue for the developing oocytes and expand our understanding of sexual reproduction in cnidarians.

scholarly journals Electroporation of short hairpin RNAs for rapid and efficient gene knockdown in the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmet Karabulut ◽  
Shuonan He ◽  
Cheng-Yi Chen ◽  
Sean A. McKinney ◽  
Matthew C. Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Evolutionary Developmental Biology ◽  
Sea Anemone ◽  
Nematostella Vectensis ◽  
Efficient Gene ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Microrna Processing ◽  
Short Hairpin ◽  
Short Hairpin Rnas

ABSTRACTA mechanistic understanding of evolutionary developmental biology requires the development of novel techniques for the manipulation of gene function in phylogenetically diverse organismal systems. Recently, gene-specific knockdown by microinjection of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) has been applied in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, a cnidarian model organism. Due to the unusual architecture of the cnidarian microRNA processing pathway, the shRNA approach is unusually effective for sequence-specific knockdown of a gene of interest. However, the time- and labor-intensive process of microinjection limits access to this technique and its application in large scale experiments. To address this issue, here we present an electroporation protocol for shRNA delivery into Nematostella eggs. This method leverages the speed and simplicity of electroporation, enabling users to manipulate gene expression in hundreds of Nematostella eggs or embryos within minutes. We provide a detailed description of the experimental procedure, including reagents, electroporation conditions, preparation of Nematostella vectensis eggs, and follow-up care of experimental animals. Finally, we demonstrate the knockdown of several endogenous and exogenous genes with known phenotypes and discuss the potential applications of this method.

Nearshore wave energy resource characterization along the East Coast of the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 172 ◽  
pp. 1212-1224
Author(s):  
Seongho Ahn ◽  
Vincent S. Neary ◽  
Mohammad Nabi Allahdadi ◽  
Ruoying He
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Wave Energy ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
The United States

scholarly journals Italianness in the United States between migrants’ informal gardening practices and agricultural diplomacy (1880–1912)

Modern Italy ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Gilberto Mazzoli
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Environmental History ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Food Production ◽  
East Coast ◽  
The United States ◽  
Southern United States ◽  
Mass Migration ◽  
Us Cities ◽  
Political Radicalism

During the Age of Mass Migration more than four million Italians reached the United States. The experience of Italians in US cities has been widely explored: however, the study of how migrants adjusted in relation to nature and food production is a relatively recent concern. Due to a mixture of racism and fear of political radicalism, Italians were deemed to be undesirable immigrants in East Coast cities and American authorities had long perceived Italian immigrants as unclean, unhealthy and carriers of diseases. As a flipside to this narrative, Italians were also believed to possess a ‘natural’ talent for agriculture, which encouraged Italian diplomats and politicians to propose the establishment of agricultural colonies in the southern United States. In rural areas Italians could profit from their agricultural skills and finally turn into ‘desirable immigrants’. The aim of this paper is to explore this ‘emigrant colonialism’ through the lens of environmental history, comparing the Italian and US diplomatic and public discourses on the potential and limits of Italians’ agricultural skills.

scholarly journals Ocean data portals: Performing a new infrastructure for ocean governance

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 484-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noëlle Boucquey ◽  
Kevin St. Martin ◽  
Luke Fairbanks ◽  
Lisa M Campbell ◽  
Sarah Wise
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
East Coast ◽  
The United States ◽  
Marine Spatial Planning ◽  
Critical Cartography ◽  
Third Phase ◽  
Ocean Governance ◽  
The World ◽  
New Infrastructure

We are currently in what might be termed a “third phase” of ocean enclosures around the world. This phase has involved an unprecedented intensity of map-making that supports an emerging regime of ocean governance where resources are geocoded, multiple and disparate marine uses are weighed against each other, spatial tradeoffs are made, and exclusive rights to spaces and resources are established. The discourse and practice of marine spatial planning inform the contours of this emerging regime. This paper examines the infrastructure of marine spatial planning via two ocean data portals recently created to support marine spatial planning on the East Coast of the United States. Applying theories of ontological politics, critical cartography, and a critical conceptualization of “care,” we examine portal performances in order to link their organization and imaging practices with the ideological and ontological work these infrastructures do, particularly in relation to environmental and human community actors. We further examine how ocean ontologies may be made durable through portal use and repetition, but also how such performances can “slip,” thereby creating openings for enacting marine spatial planning differently. Our analysis reveals how portal infrastructures assemble, edit, and visualize data, and how it matters to the success of particular performances of marine spatial planning.

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