TY - JOUR
T1 - A novel in vivo system to study coral biomineralization in the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis
AU - Foster, Brent
AU - Hugosson, Fredrik
AU - Scucchia, Federica
AU - Enjolras, Camille
AU - Babonis, Leslie S.
AU - Hoaen, William
AU - Martindale, Mark Q.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors
PY - 2024/3/15
Y1 - 2024/3/15
N2 - Coral conservation requires a mechanistic understanding of how environmental stresses disrupt biomineralization, but progress has been slow, primarily because corals are not easily amenable to laboratory research. Here, we highlight how the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, can serve as a model to interrogate the cellular mechanisms of coral biomineralization. We have developed transgenic constructs using biomineralizing genes that can be injected into Nematostella zygotes and designed such that translated proteins may be purified for physicochemical characterization. Using fluorescent tags, we confirm the ectopic expression of the coral biomineralizing protein, SpCARP1, in Nematostella. We demonstrate via calcein staining that SpCARP1 concentrates calcium ions in Nematostella, likely initiating the formation of mineral precursors, consistent with its suspected role in corals. These results lay a fundamental groundwork for establishing Nematostella as an in vivo system to explore the evolutionary and cellular mechanisms of coral biomineralization, improve coral conservation efforts, and even develop novel biomaterials.
AB - Coral conservation requires a mechanistic understanding of how environmental stresses disrupt biomineralization, but progress has been slow, primarily because corals are not easily amenable to laboratory research. Here, we highlight how the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, can serve as a model to interrogate the cellular mechanisms of coral biomineralization. We have developed transgenic constructs using biomineralizing genes that can be injected into Nematostella zygotes and designed such that translated proteins may be purified for physicochemical characterization. Using fluorescent tags, we confirm the ectopic expression of the coral biomineralizing protein, SpCARP1, in Nematostella. We demonstrate via calcein staining that SpCARP1 concentrates calcium ions in Nematostella, likely initiating the formation of mineral precursors, consistent with its suspected role in corals. These results lay a fundamental groundwork for establishing Nematostella as an in vivo system to explore the evolutionary and cellular mechanisms of coral biomineralization, improve coral conservation efforts, and even develop novel biomaterials.
KW - Animal biotechnology
KW - Aquatic biology
KW - Molecular biology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85187248399&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109131
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109131
M3 - Article
C2 - 38384856
AN - SCOPUS:85187248399
SN - 2589-0042
VL - 27
JO - iScience
JF - iScience
IS - 3
M1 - 109131
ER -