This fall, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation have initiated a large-scale international Aquatic Symbiosis Genomics project, which includes the funding of four research “hubs” to organize 50 symbiotic species each for whole genome sequencing at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Hixton England.
One hub will be led by Jose V. Lopez, Ph.D., a research scientist and professor in NSU’s Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, in collaboration with local and international researchers and will focus on studying and sequencing “photosymbiotic” organisms. These partnerships include aquatic animal hosts such as corals, sea slugs or giant clams which depend on microbial symbiotic partners that photosynthesize (the capture of sunlight energy to produce sugars).
“Indeed most plants and animals harbor microbial symbionts, including humans and bovids, so symbiosis is the rule in nature not the exception,” said Lopez. “Photosynthesis and symbiosis may represent two of the most fundamental processes that define life on this planet.”
Costasiella Ocellifera
Many aquatic photosymbionts may totally depend on the microbe for existence. For example, reef building corals cannot build their own calcium carbonate skeletons without their dinoflagellate algal symbionts. Corals will eventually perish after bleaching (loss of their photosynthetic algae) for prolonged periods of time. Saccoglossan sea slugs eat photosynthetic algae, but do not fully digest them. The “leftover” chloroplasts become temporarily incorporated into the animal tissue making them essentially solar powered.
Lopez said his team just sequenced the complete hereditary material (the genome) of a small innocuous invertebrate called Bugula neritina. It is in the phylum (major group) of animals called Bryozoa (moss like animals), which live in aquatic habitats like reefs, streams and ponds.
“To our knowledge, we are the first to publish a whole genome of this phylum,” Lopez said. “This was a significant amount of effort, and data – 214 million bp (or bits) of DNA in the code.”
Bugula neritina
Lopez said that another interesting feature of Bugula neritina is that it the source of an anti-cancer compound called bryostatin, which has been used for many years because of its potency. Interestingly, the compound is synthesized by a bacterial symbiont which only lives this bryozoan Bugula neritina. This feature dovetails with other work in his lab regarding microbial symbionts (of corals, sponges, and the new Moore project.)
Lopez has been hard at work in his lab regarding microbial symbionts (of corals, sponges) as well as being the current president of the non-profit Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance (GIGA) and teaching a graduate level genomics course.
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