Negative phototaxis in the photosymbiotic sea anemone Aiptasia as a potential strategy to protect symbionts from photodamage
Abstract Photosymbiotic cnidarians generally seek bright environments so that their symbionts can be photosynthetically active. However, excess light may result in a breakdown of symbiosis due to the accumulation of photodamage in symbionts causing symbiont loss (bleaching). It is currently unknown...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-44583-9 |
| _version_ | 1797452891744632832 |
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| author | Mariko Kishimoto Sebastian G. Gornik Nicholas S. Foulkes Annika Guse |
| author_facet | Mariko Kishimoto Sebastian G. Gornik Nicholas S. Foulkes Annika Guse |
| author_sort | Mariko Kishimoto |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Photosymbiotic cnidarians generally seek bright environments so that their symbionts can be photosynthetically active. However, excess light may result in a breakdown of symbiosis due to the accumulation of photodamage in symbionts causing symbiont loss (bleaching). It is currently unknown if photosymbiotic cnidarians sense light only to regulate spawning time and to facilitate predation, or whether they also use their light-sensing capacities to protect their symbionts from photodamage. In this study, we examined how the sea anemone Aiptasia changes its behaviour when exposed to excess light. We reveal that Aiptasia polyps, when carrying symbionts, contract their bodies when exposed to high light intensities and subsequently migrate away in a direction perpendicular to the light source. Interestingly, this negative phototaxis was only evident under blue light and absent upon UV, green and red light exposure. Non-symbiotic Aiptasia did not exhibit this light response. Our study demonstrates that photosymbiotic Aiptasia polyps display negative phototactic behaviour in response to blue light, and that they also can perceive its direction, despite lacking specialized eye structures. We postulate that Aiptasia uses blue light, which penetrates seawater efficiently, as a general proxy for sunlight exposure to protect its symbionts from photodamage. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:15:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-01ceb63b514a4d00ab287499efbc9e3d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:15:14Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-01ceb63b514a4d00ab287499efbc9e3d2023-11-26T13:06:11ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222023-10-011311510.1038/s41598-023-44583-9Negative phototaxis in the photosymbiotic sea anemone Aiptasia as a potential strategy to protect symbionts from photodamageMariko Kishimoto0Sebastian G. Gornik1Nicholas S. Foulkes2Annika Guse3National Institute for Basic BiologyCentre for Organismal Studies, Heidelberg UniversityCentre for Organismal Studies, Heidelberg UniversityNational Institute for Basic BiologyAbstract Photosymbiotic cnidarians generally seek bright environments so that their symbionts can be photosynthetically active. However, excess light may result in a breakdown of symbiosis due to the accumulation of photodamage in symbionts causing symbiont loss (bleaching). It is currently unknown if photosymbiotic cnidarians sense light only to regulate spawning time and to facilitate predation, or whether they also use their light-sensing capacities to protect their symbionts from photodamage. In this study, we examined how the sea anemone Aiptasia changes its behaviour when exposed to excess light. We reveal that Aiptasia polyps, when carrying symbionts, contract their bodies when exposed to high light intensities and subsequently migrate away in a direction perpendicular to the light source. Interestingly, this negative phototaxis was only evident under blue light and absent upon UV, green and red light exposure. Non-symbiotic Aiptasia did not exhibit this light response. Our study demonstrates that photosymbiotic Aiptasia polyps display negative phototactic behaviour in response to blue light, and that they also can perceive its direction, despite lacking specialized eye structures. We postulate that Aiptasia uses blue light, which penetrates seawater efficiently, as a general proxy for sunlight exposure to protect its symbionts from photodamage.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-44583-9 |
| spellingShingle | Mariko Kishimoto Sebastian G. Gornik Nicholas S. Foulkes Annika Guse Negative phototaxis in the photosymbiotic sea anemone Aiptasia as a potential strategy to protect symbionts from photodamage Scientific Reports |
| title | Negative phototaxis in the photosymbiotic sea anemone Aiptasia as a potential strategy to protect symbionts from photodamage |
| title_full | Negative phototaxis in the photosymbiotic sea anemone Aiptasia as a potential strategy to protect symbionts from photodamage |
| title_fullStr | Negative phototaxis in the photosymbiotic sea anemone Aiptasia as a potential strategy to protect symbionts from photodamage |
| title_full_unstemmed | Negative phototaxis in the photosymbiotic sea anemone Aiptasia as a potential strategy to protect symbionts from photodamage |
| title_short | Negative phototaxis in the photosymbiotic sea anemone Aiptasia as a potential strategy to protect symbionts from photodamage |
| title_sort | negative phototaxis in the photosymbiotic sea anemone aiptasia as a potential strategy to protect symbionts from photodamage |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-44583-9 |
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