{"id":130953,"date":"2020-11-20T12:37:29","date_gmt":"2020-11-20T22:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=130953"},"modified":"2020-11-20T12:37:29","modified_gmt":"2020-11-20T22:37:29","slug":"bacteria-direct-hawaiian-squid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/11\/20\/bacteria-direct-hawaiian-squid\/","title":{"rendered":"Bacteria direct Hawaiian squid to create more inviting home"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"graphic
Squid\u2019s light organ and symbionts (green) inside crypt where they reside. (Photo credit: Moriano-Gutierrez)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bacteria living symbiotically within the Hawaiian bobtail squid can direct the host squid to change its normal gene-expression program to make a more inviting home, according to a study published in PLoS Biology<\/em><\/a> by researchers at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology<\/a> (SOEST<\/abbr>).<\/p>\n

Nearly every organism and environment hosts a collection of symbiotic microbes—a microbiome—which are an integral component of ecological and human health. In bacteria, small RNA<\/abbr> (sRNA<\/abbr>) is a key element influencing gene expression in the microscopic organisms, however, there has been little evidence that beneficial bacteria use these molecules to communicate with their animal hosts.<\/p>\n

\"sRNA
Microcopy: sRNA<\/abbr> (pink) surrounds Vibrio (green); squid cell nuclei (blue). (Photo credit: Moriano-Gutierrez)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the new study, lead author Silvia Moriano-Gutierrez<\/strong>, a postdoctoral fellow in the Pacific Biosciences Research Center<\/a> at SOEST<\/abbr>, and co-authors, found a specific bacterial sRNA<\/abbr> that is typically responsible for quality control of the production of protein in the bacterium plays an essential role in the symbiosis between Vibrio fischeri<\/em> and the squid.<\/p>\n

Communicating a vital message<\/h2>\n

The Hawaiian bobtail squid recruits V. fischeri<\/em> to inhabit the squid\u2019s light-organ, as these bacteria are luminescent and camouflage the squid during its nighttime hunting.<\/p>\n

Through RNA-sequencing, the scientists found in squid\u2019s blood sRNA<\/abbr> sequences that were produced by bacteria inhabiting the light-organ and found a high concentration of a specific sRNA<\/abbr> within the host cells lining the crypts where the bacteria live.<\/p>\n

“The presence of this particular sRNA<\/abbr> results in ‘calming’ the immune reaction of the squid, which will increase the opportunity for the bacteria to persistently colonize the host tissue, and deliver their beneficial effects,” said Moriano-Gutierrez. “This work reveals the potential for a bacterial symbiont\u2019s sRNAs<\/abbr> not only to control its own activities but also to trigger critical responses that promote a peaceful partnership with its host.”<\/p>\n

The researchers, including co-author and UH<\/abbr> Mānoa undergraduate student Leo Wu<\/strong>, determined the bacteria load sRNA<\/abbr> into their outer membrane vesicles, which are transported into the cells surrounding the symbiont population in the light organ—decreasing the squid\u2019s antimicrobial activities in just the right location.<\/p>\n

For more see SOEST<\/abbr>\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

–By Marcie Grabowski<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researchers found bacteria living symbiotically within the Hawaiian bobtail squid can direct the host squid to change its normal gene-expression program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[1363,149,158,92,9],"class_list":["post-130953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-manoa-research","tag-pacific-biosciences-research-center","tag-publication","tag-school-of-ocean-and-earth-science-and-technology","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130953"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131028,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130953\/revisions\/131028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}