Presenter: Maria Valadez Ingersoll

Session: 7E - What are the genetic and cellular mechanisms underlying cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis and its breakdown during bleaching?

Location: Saal

Format: Talk

Changing climates mean changing and interacting stressors. In Cnidaria, endosymbiosis modulates the hosts' immune system, with possible implications on the manner in which the host can cope with stress events. We use the NF-κB pathway to track symbiosis and the molecular stress response under starvation and note that, while the NF-κB pathway is induced under nutrient limitation, other antimicrobial immune system processes are downregulated. These data indicate the presence of two pathways of immune regulation in symbiotic cnidarians and imply that the effect of environmental stress on pathogen immunity and symbiont maintenance may vary across cnidarian species and across symbiotic states within one species.

Contact Maria:

email: mingers@bu.edu

twitter: MVIngersoll