Meeting Abstract
The role of nuclear receptor-mediated signaling in cnidarians is unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the responses of sea anemones to chemicals that have known effects on vertebrate nuclear receptor-mediated processes. The species we used was Aiptasia pallida, a sea anemone that reproduces asexually through pedal laceration. In our 40-day exposure trial, we treated adult anemones from ten distinct clone lines with low and high concentrations of 17β-estradiol, coumestrol, 9-cis-retinoic acid, and citral. We examined the effects of these chemicals on the total number of lacerates produced, the proportion of lacerates that matured, and lacerate development rate. These data were analyzed using a generalized linear mixed effects model that tested the potential effects of clone line, treatment, and anemone size on each response variable. Our project provides important insights into the potential role of nuclear receptors in the physiology of cnidarians.
