Identifying genes and regulatory pathways associated with the scleractinian coral calcification process
Reef building corals precipitate calcium carbonate as an exo-skeleton and provide substratum for prosperous marine life. Biomineralization of the coral’s skeleton is a developmental process that occurs concurrently with other proliferation processes that control the animal extension and growth. The...
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| Format: | Article |
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PeerJ Inc.
2017-07-01
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| Series: | PeerJ |
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/3590.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797420002099331072 |
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| author | Eldad Gutner-Hoch Hiba Waldman Ben-Asher Ruth Yam Aldo Shemesh Oren Levy |
| author_facet | Eldad Gutner-Hoch Hiba Waldman Ben-Asher Ruth Yam Aldo Shemesh Oren Levy |
| author_sort | Eldad Gutner-Hoch |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Reef building corals precipitate calcium carbonate as an exo-skeleton and provide substratum for prosperous marine life. Biomineralization of the coral’s skeleton is a developmental process that occurs concurrently with other proliferation processes that control the animal extension and growth. The development of the animal body is regulated by large gene regulatory networks, which control the expression of gene sets that progressively generate developmental patterns in the animal body. In this study we have explored the gene expression profile and signaling pathways followed by the calcification process of a basal metazoan, the Red Sea scleractinian (stony) coral, Stylophora pistillata. When treated by seawater with high calcium concentrations (addition of 100 gm/L, added as CaCl2.2H2O), the coral increases its calcification rates and associated genes were up-regulated as a result, which were then identified. Gene expression was compared between corals treated with elevated and normal calcium concentrations. Calcification rate measurements and gene expression analysis by microarray RNA transcriptional profiling at two time-points (midday and night-time) revealed several genes common within mammalian gene regulatory networks. This study indicates that core genes of the Wnt and TGF-β/BMP signaling pathways may also play roles in development, growth, and biomineralization in early-diverging organisms such as corals. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:56:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8d70087e57004574984602af76441728 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:56:16Z |
| publishDate | 2017-07-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
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| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-8d70087e57004574984602af764417282023-12-03T10:03:26ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592017-07-015e359010.7717/peerj.3590Identifying genes and regulatory pathways associated with the scleractinian coral calcification processEldad Gutner-Hoch0Hiba Waldman Ben-Asher1Ruth Yam2Aldo Shemesh3Oren Levy4Department of Zoology, The George S. Wise Center for Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, IsraelThe Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, IsraelDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, IsraelDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, IsraelThe Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, IsraelReef building corals precipitate calcium carbonate as an exo-skeleton and provide substratum for prosperous marine life. Biomineralization of the coral’s skeleton is a developmental process that occurs concurrently with other proliferation processes that control the animal extension and growth. The development of the animal body is regulated by large gene regulatory networks, which control the expression of gene sets that progressively generate developmental patterns in the animal body. In this study we have explored the gene expression profile and signaling pathways followed by the calcification process of a basal metazoan, the Red Sea scleractinian (stony) coral, Stylophora pistillata. When treated by seawater with high calcium concentrations (addition of 100 gm/L, added as CaCl2.2H2O), the coral increases its calcification rates and associated genes were up-regulated as a result, which were then identified. Gene expression was compared between corals treated with elevated and normal calcium concentrations. Calcification rate measurements and gene expression analysis by microarray RNA transcriptional profiling at two time-points (midday and night-time) revealed several genes common within mammalian gene regulatory networks. This study indicates that core genes of the Wnt and TGF-β/BMP signaling pathways may also play roles in development, growth, and biomineralization in early-diverging organisms such as corals.https://peerj.com/articles/3590.pdfScleractinian coralCalcificationRegulatory pathwaysWnt pathwayTGF-beta/BMP pathwayMicroarray |
| spellingShingle | Eldad Gutner-Hoch Hiba Waldman Ben-Asher Ruth Yam Aldo Shemesh Oren Levy Identifying genes and regulatory pathways associated with the scleractinian coral calcification process PeerJ Scleractinian coral Calcification Regulatory pathways Wnt pathway TGF-beta/BMP pathway Microarray |
| title | Identifying genes and regulatory pathways associated with the scleractinian coral calcification process |
| title_full | Identifying genes and regulatory pathways associated with the scleractinian coral calcification process |
| title_fullStr | Identifying genes and regulatory pathways associated with the scleractinian coral calcification process |
| title_full_unstemmed | Identifying genes and regulatory pathways associated with the scleractinian coral calcification process |
| title_short | Identifying genes and regulatory pathways associated with the scleractinian coral calcification process |
| title_sort | identifying genes and regulatory pathways associated with the scleractinian coral calcification process |
| topic | Scleractinian coral Calcification Regulatory pathways Wnt pathway TGF-beta/BMP pathway Microarray |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/3590.pdf |
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