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Criptocromos sensibles a la luz de un simple animal multicelular, el coral Acropora millepora
O Levy1, L Appelbaum, W Leggat
1Centre for Marine Studies, University of Queensland, St. Lucia 4072 QLD, Australia.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|October 20, 2007
Resumen
Los corales constructores de arrecifes usan antiguos sensores de luz azul llamados criptocromos para detectar la luz de la luna, sincronizando sus eventos de desove masivo. Este descubrimiento revela nuevos roles para estas moléculas en el reino animal.
Área de la Ciencia:
- Biología Marina Biología Marina.
- Cronobiología cronobiología.
- Evolución molecular de la evolución molecular.
Sus antecedentes:
- Los corales de construcción de arrecifes exhiben eventos de desove masivo sincronizados anualmente.
- Los ciclos lunares, específicamente la luz de la luna, son reguladores conocidos del desove de los corales.
- Los mecanismos moleculares por los cuales los corales detectan la luz de la luna siguen siendo en gran parte desconocidos.
Objetivo del estudio:
- Para identificar los fotorreceptores moleculares responsables de la detección de la luz de la luna en los corales.
- Investigar los patrones de expresión de fotorreceptores identificados en relación con los ciclos luminosos y lunares.
- Para entender el significado evolutivo de estos fotorreceptores en animales con divergencia temprana.
Principales métodos:
- Identificación y caracterización de genes criptocromos (cry1 y cry2) en el coral Acropora millepora.
- Análisis de los niveles de expresión génica criptocromática bajo diferentes condiciones de luz.
- Comparación de los niveles de expresión de cry2 durante las noches de luna llena y luna nueva.
Principales resultados:
- Los criptocromos, antiguos fotorreceptores sensibles a la luz azul, fueron identificados en Acropora millepora.
- Se descubrió que los genes cry1 y cry2 se expresan preferentemente en presencia de luz.
- La expresión de cry2 fue significativamente mayor en las noches de luna llena en comparación con las noches de luna nueva, lo que sugiere un papel en la sincronización lunar.
Conclusiones:
- Los criptocromos son componentes moleculares clave que permiten a los corales detectar la luz de la luna.
- Estos hallazgos resaltan el papel conservado de los criptocromos en la mediación de comportamientos dependientes de la luz en diversos filos animales.
- El estudio aclara una base molecular para la sincronización de los eventos de desove de la masa de coral.
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