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Salamander's egg surprise - Algae enjoy symbiotic relationship with embryos.
Nature News ^ | 4 August 2010 | Anna Petherick

Posted on 08/10/2010 12:27:42 AM PDT by neverdem

Scientists have stumbled across the first example of a photosynthetic organism living inside a vertebrate's cells. The discovery is a surprise because the adaptive immune systems of vertebrates generally destroy foreign biological material. In this case, however, a symbiotic alga seems to be surviving unchallenged — and might be giving its host a solar-powered metabolic boost.

Algae cohabit with salamander embryos in their eggs &x2014; and inside their cells.Algae cohabit with salamander embryos in their eggs — and inside their cells.T. LEVIN/PHOTOLIBRARY.COM

The embryos of the spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) have long been known to enjoy a mutualistic relationship with the single-celled alga Oophila amblystomatis. The salamanders' viridescent eggs are coloured by algae living in the jelly-like material that surrounds the embryo. The embryos produce nitrogen-rich waste that is useful to the algae, which, in turn, supply the developing embryos with extra oxygen. The algae clearly benefit their salamander hosts: Lynda Goff, a molecular marine biologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, showed 30 years ago that salamander embryos lacking algae in their surrounding jelly are slower to hatch.

Ryan Kerney of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, has now found that these algae also live inside the embryo's cells. Such a close coexistence with a photosynthetic organism has previously been found only in invertebrates, such as corals. Kerney took long-exposure fluorescent images of pre-hatchling salamander embryos, and saw scattered dots in the unstained tissue — an indicator that it might contain chlorophyll. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed mitochondria in the salamander cells...

--snip--

One of Kerney's most curious discoveries suggests that the algae may be a maternal gift. He has found the same algae in the oviducts of adult female spotted salamanders, where the embryo-encompassing jelly sacs first form...

(Excerpt) Read more at nature.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Testing
KEYWORDS: algae; biology; egg; eggs; embryos; enjoy; godsgravesglyphs; immunology; relationship; salamander; salamanders; science; surprise; symbiosis; symbiotic
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1 posted on 08/10/2010 12:27:48 AM PDT by neverdem
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To: neverdem; Salamander

ping...


2 posted on 08/10/2010 12:28:56 AM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 562 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: null and void

Drat.

They’ve uncovered our secret plan for world domination!


3 posted on 08/10/2010 1:02:26 AM PDT by Salamander (And I think I need some rest but sleeping don't come very easy in a straight white vest.)
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To: Mother Abigail; EBH; vetvetdoug; Smokin' Joe; Global2010; Battle Axe; null and void; ...
This would "really challenge the dogma" that vertebrates' immune systems ban such close relationships, he says.
4 posted on 08/10/2010 1:12:59 AM PDT by neverdem (Xin loi minh oi)
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To: Salamander

But you have GREEN power from the SUN! How crunchy granola cool is that?


5 posted on 08/10/2010 1:13:57 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (I am in America but not of America (per bible: am in the world but not of it))
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To: neverdem

Why only the pix of the eggs, not the TEM scans of the cells?


6 posted on 08/10/2010 1:31:08 AM PDT by Greg123456
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To: Greg123456

Maybe the eggs are far more picturesque.


7 posted on 08/10/2010 1:46:32 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (I am in America but not of America (per bible: am in the world but not of it))
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To: Salamander
Still working on that hind leg walking thing, eh?


8 posted on 08/10/2010 1:47:19 AM PDT by shibumi (Pablo, wily, clever and detractive as all get out!)
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To: Salamander
"Stand Back, Gojira!"


9 posted on 08/10/2010 1:50:34 AM PDT by shibumi (Pablo, wily, clever and detractive as all get out!)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Maybe so.. I wonder what Newt thinks of his “relatives”?


10 posted on 08/10/2010 2:09:53 AM PDT by Greg123456
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To: neverdem
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed mitochondria in the salamander cells...

I wonder if that was a mistype. It isn't unusual to find mitochondria in the cells, since all eukaryotic cells have them. OTOH, finding chloroplasts in the salamander cells would be very surprising.

Also, the article overstates the significance of foreign biological material living symbiotically within the body. Many species of bacteria live on and within the body. They protect us from infection. E. coli (and maybe other species) makes vitamin K that we need to survive. What *is* significant is that the symbiotic organism is photosynthetic.

Both mitochondria and chloroplasts are thought to be ancient bacteria that took up residence inside eukaryotes. Although incapable of independent life, they still function like bacteria.

11 posted on 08/10/2010 2:10:58 AM PDT by exDemMom (Now that I've finally accepted that I'm living a bad hair life, I'm more at peace with the world.)
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To: exDemMom
"Many species of bacteria live on and within the body. They protect us from infection. E. coli (and maybe other species) makes vitamin K that we need to survive."

I don't think in either of those cases that the "foreign" party lives "within" cells, but external to them.

12 posted on 08/10/2010 4:11:38 AM PDT by Wonder Warthog
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To: exDemMom

You only read the excerpt. The full sentence is:
“Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed mitochondria in the salamander cells clustering close to the algae. “


13 posted on 08/10/2010 4:36:00 AM PDT by Jordo
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Waaaay cool but we were the only species capable of actually making Green Energy work and we *weren’t* going to share.

Curse those infernal meddling scientists!

Now, we’ll have to go to Plan B.

[don’t ask....it’s simply too horrible for the human mind to even contemplate]


14 posted on 08/10/2010 5:50:00 AM PDT by Salamander (And I think I need some rest but sleeping don't come very easy in a straight white vest.)
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To: shibumi

Laugh while you still can, silly mammal.

All too soon, you’ll be kneeling before your new Amphibian Overlords.


15 posted on 08/10/2010 5:51:52 AM PDT by Salamander (And I think I need some rest but sleeping don't come very easy in a straight white vest.)
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To: Greg123456; newt

ping


16 posted on 08/10/2010 6:30:10 AM PDT by widdle_wabbit
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To: Salamander

Yeah. I thought you should know...


17 posted on 08/10/2010 7:36:48 AM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 563 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: Salamander
Laugh while you still can, silly mammal.

I believe Emilio Lizardo's uh, Salamando's line is "Laugha while-a you can, monkeyboy!"


18 posted on 08/10/2010 7:45:56 AM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 563 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: Salamander; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 21twelve; 240B; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; ...

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·

 
Gods
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Glyphs
Thanks neverdem.
The embryos produce nitrogen-rich waste that is useful to the algae, which, in turn, supply the developing embryos with extra oxygen.
To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

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19 posted on 08/10/2010 6:18:26 PM PDT by SunkenCiv ("Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others." -- Otto von Bismarck)
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To: null and void

That works for me....:)


20 posted on 08/10/2010 8:01:22 PM PDT by Salamander (And I think I need some rest but sleeping don't come very easy in a straight white vest.)
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