New research has revealed a surprise twist in the symbiotic relationship between a type of salamander and the alga that lives inside its eggs.
New research has revealed a surprise twist in the symbiotic relationship between a type of salamander and the alga that lives inside its eggs. A new paper in Frontiers in Microbiology reports that the eggs compete with the algae to assimilate carbon from their surroundings – a finding that could inform similar processes in the dark ocean.
Plants and animals sometimes partner up in symbiotic relationships that benefit both, such as corals that provide a protective environment for algae that live inside them, and receive oxygen and nutrients from the algae in return. Originally, scientists believed that the salamander eggs and algae may be helping one another by exchanging sugar molecules – but a series of laboratory experiments showed molecular biologist John Burns and his colleagues Solange Duhamel at the University of Arizona and Ryan Kerney at Gettysburg College that this was not the case. Burns is the newest newest senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, and much of his research explores how unusual situations in cell biology can inform understanding of the way larger systems function.
“Direct associations between algae and vertebrate animals are rare, and so one of the big questions has always been why this symbiosis exists in the first place,” Burns said. “Learning about the chemical dialog between the algae and salamander eggs is essential for understanding their relationship, and implications for other symbioses.”
Read more at: Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
A spotted salamander is surrounded by eggs that contain a symbiotic alga during a spring egg-laying event. New research reports that the eggs compete with the algae to assimilate carbon from their surroundings - a finding that could inform similar processes in the dark ocean. (Photo Credit: Ryan Kerney/Gettysburg College)
