A hydra with many heads: Protein and polypeptide toxins from hydra and their biological roles

Sher, Daniel; Zlotkin, Eliahu

doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2009.02.036

Cited by 32 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 86 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The identification of the nematocyst proteome of Hydra for the first time allows a view into the evolutionary history of this organelle. We can clearly rule out a major transfer event by stable cellular integration of an endosymbiont, as in the case of mitochondria and chloroplasts, although proteins of bacterial origin such as those involved in poly-␥-glutamate synthesis have essentially contributed to nematocyst functions (31). Instead, our data suggest an evolution of nematocysts that was tightly coupled with the invention of ECM-like structural proteins from exocytic vesicles of early eukaryotes specialized in venom secretion (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…These include neurotoxins, cytolysins, toxic phospholipases, many peptidases, and proteins of the SCP_GAPR-1-like family (supplemental Table 1). Their molecular masses range from 25 to 100 kDa, indicating a lack of small peptide toxins affecting Na ϩ and K ϩ channels identified in many sea anemones (31,32). Four venom sequences are cnidarian-specific (supplemental Table 1), and most venom proteins are part of the soluble nematocyst proteome (Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Proteome of Hydra Nematocyst

Balasubramanian

Beckmann

Warnken

et al. 2012

Journal of Biological Chemistry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Nematocysts are the most sophisticated organelles in the animal kingdom and a hallmark of the phylum Cnidaria.Results: We present the first complete protein map of the Hydra nematocyst. Conclusion:The nematocyst proteome is highly complex and includes novel structural proteins. Significance: The proteome data reveal a eukaryotic origin of the nematocyst and point to common molecular features with the extracellular matrix.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proteome of Hydra Nematocyst

Balasubramanian

Beckmann

Warnken

et al. 2012

Journal of Biological Chemistry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…They have no defense for the offensive weapons of Hydra and will immediately be paralyzed and ingested -often in great numbers. Hydra nematocysts have an amazing array of toxins that are currently being characterized along with body cells producing non-nematocystic toxins (Sher and Zlotkin, 2009), see in this issue (Rachamim and Sher, 2012). While Daphnia is susceptible to Hydra toxins, its morphology makes it a more difficult meal to capture and ingest compared to brine shrimp (Rabus and Laforsch, 2011).…”

Section: Ecology and Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to use Hydra as a model system to teach biology in the classroom

Bossert¹,

Galliot²

2012

Int. J. Dev. Biol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As scientists it is our duty to fight against obscurantism and loss of rational thinking if we want politicians and citizens to freely make the most intelligent choices for the future generations. With that aim, the scientific education and training of young students is an obvious and urgent necessity. We claim here that Hydra provides a highly versatile but cheap model organism to study biology at any age. Teachers of biology have the unenviable task of motivating young people, who with many other motivations that are quite valid, nevertheless must be guided along a path congruent with a 'syllabus' or a 'curriculum' . The biology of Hydra spans the history of biology as an experimental science from Trembley's first manipulations designed to determine if the green polyp he found was plant or animal to the dissection of the molecular cascades underpinning, regeneration, wound healing, stemness, aging and cancer. It is described here in terms designed to elicit its wider use in classrooms. Simple lessons are outlined in sufficient detail for beginners to enter the world of 'Hydra biology' . Protocols start with the simplest observations to experiments that have been pretested with students in the USA and in Europe. The lessons are practical and can be used to bring 'life' , but also rational thinking into the study of life for the teachers of students from elementary school through early university. KEY WORDS: ecology, evolution and developmental biology education, science policy, authentic assessment, inquiry-based learning, student portfolio How the authors met the Hydra model systemIn the USA, Patricia Bossert taught Biology on Long Island for 35 years, making Hydra her accomplice for many of those years. Initially trained as a classroom teacher, she decided to go back to academic studies after 15 years of teaching and, with the support of her family (husband, mother and two young sons), she performed a PhD in Ecology and Evolution in the laboratory of Lawrence B. Slobodkin at Stony Brook University. During this period she gained a deeper appreciation of the amazing potential of Hydra to address ecological and evolutionary issues experimentally (Bossert and Dunn, 1986;Slobodkin and Bossert, 1991) as well as its outstanding value for stimulating the curiosity of even the youngest students while also providing a challenging model for older students to perform authentic investigations. Thanks to her original approach that combined ecology and evolution with molecular strategies, several of them obtained prizes in national and international scientific competitions. This led her to be recruited by Stony Brook University as an expert for mentoring teachers to do research using Hydra; focusing on students from families of lower socio-economic Int. J. Dev. Biol. 56: 637-652 (2012) doi: 10.1387/ijdb.123523pb www.intjdevbiol.com *Address correspondence to: Brigitte Galliot. Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, Switzerland. e-mail: brigitte.galliot@unige.ch Abbreviations used in this pa...

show abstract

“…Initial studies of Hydra venom focused on describing the physiological effect of the venom on model organisms such as Drosophila, which simulate arthropod prey, and on isolated heart muscle. When injected into Drosophila, Hydra nematocyst venom causes a rapid spastic paralysis followed by a long phase of flaccidity (Weber et al, 1987, recently reviewed by Sher and Zlotkin, 2009). The latter, flaccid stage might help the Hydra manipulate the paralyzed prey, which may be as large as the Hydra itself, while engulfing it.…”

Section: What Constitutes the Chemical Armament Of Hydra?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Preliminary chromatographic analyses of Hydra venom revealed the occurrence of at least two differet protein toxic fractions, one causing spastic paralysis and hemolysis and the second causing long-lasting depressant paralysis (Klug et al, 1989b), however neither of these has been isolated and characterized to date (Sher and Zlotkin, 2009). Recent approaches making use of the ever-increasing amount of genetic data available have revealed the occurrence of transcripts with a high level of homology to at least eight groups of previously-described toxins (Sher et al, 2005b, Sher andZlotkin, 2009).…”

Section: What Constitutes the Chemical Armament Of Hydra?mentioning

confidence: 99%

What Hydra can teach us about chemical ecology how a simple, soft organism survives in a hostile aqueous environment

Rachamim

Sher

2012

Int. J. Dev. Biol.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hydra and its fellow cnidarians -sea anemones, corals and jellyfish -are simple, mostly sessile animals that depend on bioactive chemicals for survival. In this review, we briefly describe what is known about the chemical armament of Hydra, and detail future research directions where Hydra can help illuminate major questions in chemical ecology, pharmacology, developmental biology and evolution. Focusing on two groups of putative toxins from Hydra -phospholipase A2s and proteins containing ShK and zinc metalloprotease domains, we ask: how do different venom components act together during prey paralysis? How is a venom arsenal created and how does it evolve? How is the chemical arsenal delivered to its target? To what extent does a chemical and biotic coupling exist between an organism and its environment? We propose a model whereby in Hydra and other cnidarians, bioactive compounds are secreted both as localized point sources (nematocyte discharges) and across extensive body surfaces, likely combining to create complex "chemical landscapes". We speculate that these cnidarian-derived chemical landscapes may affect the surrounding community on scales from microns to, in the case of coral reefs, hundreds of kilometers.

show abstract

A hydra with many heads: Protein and polypeptide toxins from hydra and their biological roles

Cited by 32 publications

References 86 publications

Proteome of Hydra Nematocyst

Proteome of Hydra Nematocyst

How to use Hydra as a model system to teach biology in the classroom

What Hydra can teach us about chemical ecology how a simple, soft organism survives in a hostile aqueous environment

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About