Meeting Abstract
The starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, is an estuarine species with broad distribution across the Atlantic coast of North America. Throughout their distribution N. vectensis are commonly found alongside a relatively homogeneous biological communities (potential predators and prey) and are subjected to variable abiotic stressors depending on their location (temperature, salinity, and UV). We are currently using N. vectensis as a model to understand how biotic and abiotic factors influence their overall venom diversity. We are evaluating this diversity at the cellular, individual, and population level as it relates to toxin gene expression, diversity across toxin gene families, and potential change in toxin function in N. vectensis. We show that N. vectensis are equipped with a diverse arrangement of toxins at different life history stages and across cell type, with some toxins exhibiting regional sequence diversity. Our combined MiSeq, n-counter, and qPCR approaches show that there is little sequence variation with regards to toxin expression across most toxin types as it relates to variable abiotic stressors. We also show that as adults, N. vectensis can defend themselves against grass shrimp (Palaemonestes pugio) or killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus), however, during early embryogenesis and developmental stages N. vectensis may be prey for both species. Although the toxin gene assemblage of N. vectensis is incredibly diverse, a single neurotoxin gene (Nv1) appears to be the most bioactive peptide when assayed across potential predators or prey throughout their distribution, which is likely the reason behind its conservation across multiple gene copies within the genome.
