Cnidarians in symbiosis with photosynthetic protists must withstand daily hyperoxic/anoxic transitions within their host cells. Comparative studies between symbiotic (Anemonia viridis) and non-symbiotic (Actinia schmidti) sea anemones show striking differences in their response to oxidative stress. First, the basal expression of SOD is very different. Symbiotic animal cells have a higher isoform diversity (number and classes) and a higher activity than the non-symbiotic cells. Second, the symbiotic animal cells of A. viridis also maintain unaltered basal values for cellular damage when exposed to experimental hyperoxia (100%·O 2 ) or to experimental thermal stress (elevated temperature +7°C above ambient). Under such conditions, A. schmidti modifies its SOD activity significantly. Electrophoretic patterns diversify, global activities diminish and cell damage biomarkers increase. These data suggest symbiotic cells adapt to stress while non-symbiotic cells remain acutely sensitive. In addition to being toxic, high O 2 partial pressure (P O ∑) may also constitute a preconditioning step for symbiotic animal cells, leading to an adaptation to the hyperoxic condition and, thus, to oxidative stress. Furthermore, in aposymbiotic animal cells of A. viridis, repression of some animal SOD isoforms is observed. Meanwhile, in cultured symbionts, new activity bands are induced, suggesting that the host might protect its zooxanthellae in hospite. Similar results have been observed in other symbiotic organisms, such as the sea anemone Aiptasia pulchella and the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata. Molecular or physical interactions between the two symbiotic partners may explain such variations in SOD activity and might confer oxidative stress tolerance to the animal host.

Symbiosis between cnidarian and photosynthetic protists is widely distributed over temperate and tropical seas. These symbioses can periodically breakdown, a phenomenon known as cnidarian bleaching. This event can be irreversible for some associations subjected to acute and/or prolonged environmental disturbances, and leads to the death of the animal host. During bleaching, oxidative stress has been described previously as acting at molecular level and apoptosis is suggested to be one of the mechanisms involved. We focused our study on the role of apoptosis in bleaching via oxidative stress in the association between the sea anemone Anemonia viridis and the dinoflagellates Symbiodinium species. Characterization of caspase‐like enzymes were conducted at the biochemical and molecular level to confirm the presence of a caspase‐dependent apoptotic phenomenon in the cnidarian host. We provide evidence of oxidative stress followed by induction of caspase‐like activity in animal host cells after an elevated temperature stress, suggesting the concomitant action of these components in bleaching.

SUMMARYOcean acidification is predicted to have significant effects on benthic calcifying invertebrates, in particular on their early developmental stages. Echinoderm larvae could be particularly vulnerable to decreased pH, with major consequences for adult populations. The objective of this study was to understand how ocean acidification would affect the initial life stages of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus, a common species that is widely distributed in the Mediterranean Sea and the NE Atlantic. The effects of decreased pH (elevated P CO2 ) were investigated through physiological and molecular analyses on both embryonic and larval stages. Eggs and larvae were reared in Mediterranean seawater at six pH levels, i.e. pH T 8.1, 7.9, 7.7, 7.5, 7.25 and 7.0. Fertilization success, survival, growth and calcification rates were monitored over a 3day period. The expression of genes coding for key proteins involved in development and biomineralization was also monitored. Paracentrotus lividus appears to be extremely resistant to low pH, with no effect on fertilization success or larval survival. Larval growth was slowed when exposed to low pH but with no direct impact on relative larval morphology or calcification down to pH T 7.25. Consequently, at a given time, larvae exposed to low pH were present at a normal but delayed larval stage. More surprisingly, candidate genes involved in development and biomineralization were upregulated by factors of up to 26 at low pH. Our results revealed plasticity at the gene expression level that allows a normal, but delayed, development under low pH conditions.