Molecular insights into the Darwin paradox of coral reefs from the sea anemone Aiptasia.
Guoxin CuiMigle K KonciuteLorraine LingLuke E EsauJean-Baptiste RainaBaoda HanOctavio R SalazarJason S PresnellNils RädeckerHuawen ZhongJessica MenziesPhillip A ClevesYi Jin LiewCory J KredietVal SawiccyMaha J CziesielskiPaul GuagliardoJeremy BougoureMathieu PerniceHeribert HirtChristian R VoolstraVirginia M WeisJohn R PringleManuel ArandaPublished in: Science advances (2023)
Symbiotic cnidarians such as corals and anemones form highly productive and biodiverse coral reef ecosystems in nutrient-poor ocean environments, a phenomenon known as Darwin's paradox. Resolving this paradox requires elucidating the molecular bases of efficient nutrient distribution and recycling in the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis. Using the sea anemone Aiptasia, we show that during symbiosis, the increased availability of glucose and the presence of the algae jointly induce the coordinated up-regulation and relocalization of glucose and ammonium transporters. These molecular responses are critical to support symbiont functioning and organism-wide nitrogen assimilation through glutamine synthetase/glutamate synthase-mediated amino acid biosynthesis. Our results reveal crucial aspects of the molecular mechanisms underlying nitrogen conservation and recycling in these organisms that allow them to thrive in the nitrogen-poor ocean environments.