Deep-Sea Anemones (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria) from the South Atlantic

Gusmão, Luciana Câmara; Rodríguez, Estefanía

doi:10.1206/0003-0090.444.1.1

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 113 publications

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“…Actinernus is a genus of deep-sea anemones currently represented by six species distributed in the Southern Ocean, Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean [20][21][22][23]. However, molecular data in this genus is scarce.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The genome of the deep-sea anemone Actinernus sp. contains a mega-array of ANTP-class homeobox genes

Law,

Yu,

Nong

et al. 2023

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Members of the phylum Cnidaria include sea anemones, corals and jellyfish, and have successfully colonized both marine and freshwater habitats throughout the world. The understanding of how cnidarians adapt to extreme environments such as the dark, high-pressure deep-sea habitat has been hindered by the lack of genomic information. Here, we report the first chromosome-level deep-sea cnidarian genome, of the anemone Actinernus sp., which was 1.39 Gbp in length and contained 44 970 gene models including 14 806 tRNA genes and 30 164 protein-coding genes. Analyses of homeobox genes revealed the longest chromosome hosts a mega-array of Hox cluster, HoxL, NK cluster and NKL homeobox genes; until now, such an array has only been hypothesized to have existed in ancient ancestral genomes. In addition to this striking arrangement of homeobox genes, analyses of microRNAs revealed cnidarian-specific complements that are distinctive for nested clades of these animals, presumably reflecting the progressive evolution of the gene regulatory networks in which they are embedded. Also, compared with other sea anemones, circadian rhythm genes were lost in Actinernus sp., which likely reflects adaptation to living in the dark. This high-quality genome of a deep-sea cnidarian thus reveals some of the likely molecular adaptations of this ecologically important group of metazoans to the extreme deep-sea environment. It also deepens our understanding of the evolution of genome content and organization of animals in general and cnidarians in particular, specifically from the viewpoint of key developmental control genes like the homeobox-encoding genes, where we find an array of genes that until now has only been hypothesized to have existed in the ancient ancestor that pre-dated both the cnidarians and bilaterians.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The genome of the deep-sea anemone Actinernus sp. contains a mega-array of ANTP-class homeobox genes

Law,

Yu,

Nong

et al. 2023

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Antholoba fabiani sp. nov. (Actiniaria, Metridioidea, Antholobidae fam. nov.), a new species and family of sea anemone of the southwestern Atlantic, Brazil

Durán-Fuentes,

González-Muñoz,

Daly

et al. 2024

Mar. Biodivers.

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The high biodiversity of benthic organisms in a coastal ecosystem revealed by an integrative approach

Amaral,

Cunha,

Checon

et al. 2024

Biota Neotrop.

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Increasing habitat modification and species loss demand consistent efforts to describe and understand biodiversity patterns. The BIOTA/FAPESP Program was created in this context and it has been a successful initiative to promote studies on biodiversity and conservation in Brazil. The BIOTA/Araçá is an interdisciplinary project that provided a detailed evaluation of the biodiversity of Araçá Bay, a coastal seascape located on the North coast of the state of São Paulo, Southeast Brazil. The bay encompasses multiple habitats, such as beaches, mangroves, rocky shores, and a tidal flat, and provides important ecosystem services. Unfortunately, the bay is the subject of complex social-environmental conflicts that oppose economic, social, and environmental demands (i.e., the expansion of neighboring harbor activities vs. small-scale artisanal fisheries and protection of biodiversity). The present study presents a survey of the benthic species occurring in the different habitats of Araçá Bay, including data obtained during the BIOTA/Araçá project and previous assessments of the area. The benthic species play an important role in marine environments and studying the diversity of these organisms that live associated with the bottom is indispensable for comprehending the environment’s functioning. The macrofauna, meiofauna, and microorganisms associated with soft and hard bottom were listed, and additional information, such as the habitat and geographical distribution, were provided for each species. The checklist includes 826 species, almost 70% recorded during the BIOTA/Araçá project. The most speciose taxa were the annelids (225 spp.), mollusks (194 spp.), and crustaceans (177 spp.). Seven benthic species are endemic to Araçá Bay, 14 are considered threatened, and seven are economically exploited. Furthermore, the bay is the type locality of many taxa, and 11 new benthic species were described based on specimens sampled during the project. This project shows the importance of Araçá Bay as a unique biologically rich environment and highlights the need for conservation efforts in light of the current threats.

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Deep-Sea Anemones (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria) from the South Atlantic

Cited by 3 publications

References 113 publications

The genome of the deep-sea anemone Actinernus sp. contains a mega-array of ANTP-class homeobox genes

The genome of the deep-sea anemone Actinernus sp. contains a mega-array of ANTP-class homeobox genes

Antholoba fabiani sp. nov. (Actiniaria, Metridioidea, Antholobidae fam. nov.), a new species and family of sea anemone of the southwestern Atlantic, Brazil

The high biodiversity of benthic organisms in a coastal ecosystem revealed by an integrative approach

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