PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Marine tubeworms need nudge to transition from larvae state

Intriguing bacterium-animal interaction may have implications for boat owners and the mariculture industry, UH Manoa researchers say

2014-01-10
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Talia S. Ogliore
togliore@hawaii.edu
808-956-4531
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Marine tubeworms need nudge to transition from larvae state Intriguing bacterium-animal interaction may have implications for boat owners and the mariculture industry, UH Manoa researchers say

A common problem at Pearl Harbor, biofouling affects harbors around the world. It's the process by which barnacles, muscles, oysters, and tubeworms accumulate on the bottom of boats and other surfaces. Now researchers at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa's Kewalo Marine Laboratory have discovered a biological trigger behind the buildup.

Crusty marine creatures begin life as miniscule larvae floating in the open ocean, says Michael Hadfield, a Professor of Biology. But before the larvae settle on a surface and start to grow, they need a bacterial cue to initiate metamorphosis.

"The critical issue is how they find the right spot to make that transformation: the right place where food will be available and where there will be others of the species with which to reproduce," Hadfield said. "The success of the species depends on the larvae settling in on exactly the right spot."

Or the wrong spot, depending on who you're talking to. The U.S. Navy, commercial cargo shippers, and many private boat owners would like to find a way to stop biofouling before it starts. A surface layer of barnacles or other marine life slows down boats and increases the amount of fuel it takes to move them through the water.

Biofouling begins when floating larvae come into contact with a biofilm formed by a microbe that coats steel, plastic, and glass surfaces in calm ocean waters. Now new research from UH Mānoa and the California Institute of Technology has isolated the genetic underpinnings of this novel form of bacterium-animal interaction.

The results were published in the January 9, 2014, issue of the journal Science, in an article titled, "Marine tubeworm metamorphosis induced by arrays of bacterial phage tail-like structures." Collaborator Nicholas Shikuma, the first author on this paper, studied with Hadfield and earned his masters degree at UH Mānoa. He is now a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech.

Hadfield and his team have been studying the marine tubeworm H. elegans since 1990. In his laboratory, researchers cultivated strains of bacteria to identify the specific genes that are involved with causing the H. elegans larvae to abandon their free-swimming ways and "recruit" out of the ocean to begin a new life phase affixed onto harder surfaces. Interestingly, the researchers found that these particular bacteria, Pseudoalteromonas luteoviolacea, produce arrays of phage tail-like structures that are similar to those produced for puncturing the cell membranes of competing bacteria. The phage tail-like structures appear to play a role in the bacterium-animal interaction as well, but researchers are still analyzing the specifics.

This bacteria's not all bad, though. While a new layer of marine life on a previously pristine boat hull might be a negative for a boat owner, the same bacteria-driven process is a positive for repairing and restoring damaged reefs, for example. And greater knowledge of the forces that drive larval recruitment could also be a boon for oyster and clam growers in the mariculture industry, who rely on very similar processes to seed their stocks.

"Larval settlement is responsible for creating new communities on new surfaces," Hadfield said. "But it's also essential to continue those communities as old organisms die—to recruit new ones there to replace them. In the ecology of the sea, it's one of the most important processes, and the more we understand about it, the better we can help it go."

"Knowledge like this will help us to develop methods that target the process itself," Hadfield said.



INFORMATION:



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Target canine 'superspreaders' to halt killer disease and cull fewer dogs, study suggests

2014-01-10
Target canine 'superspreaders' to halt killer disease and cull fewer dogs, study suggests A new way to test for the parasite which causes the fatal disease leishmaniasis could help control its spread to humans and stop dogs being needlessly killed in parts ...

New clues to how bacteria evade antibiotics

2014-01-10
New clues to how bacteria evade antibiotics Scientists have made an important advance in understanding how a subset of bacterial cells escape being killed by many antibiotics. Cells become "persisters" by entering a state in which they stop replicating and ...

Prediction of the future flu virus

2014-01-10
Prediction of the future flu virus Every year, influenza outbreaks claim hundreds of thousands of human lives. Though vaccination against flu is fairly efficient, the disease is difficult to exterminate because of the high evolutionary rate of the flu virus. ...

Researchers develop test to predict early onset of heart attacks

2014-01-10
Researchers develop test to predict early onset of heart attacks LA JOLLA, CA – A new "fluid biopsy" technique that could identify patients at high risk of a heart attack by identifying specific cells as markers in the bloodstream has been developed by a group of ...

Spinal cord findings could help explain origins of limb control

2014-01-10
Spinal cord findings could help explain origins of limb control Zebrafish study connects data between fish and mammalian locomotion

Discovery may aid vaccine design for common form of malaria

2014-01-10
Discovery may aid vaccine design for common form of malaria A form of malaria common in India, Southeast Asia and South America attacks human red blood cells by clamping down on the cells with a pair of proteins, new research at Washington University ...

Study: Heavy viewers of 'Teen Mom' and '16 and Pregnant' have unrealistic views of teen pregnancy

2014-01-10
Study: Heavy viewers of 'Teen Mom' and '16 and Pregnant' have unrealistic views of teen pregnancy Many believe teen mothers have an enviable quality of life, a high income and involved fathers BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The creator of MTV's "16 and Pregnant" and "Teen Mom" ...

SF State astronomers discover new planet in Pisces constellation

2014-01-10
SF State astronomers discover new planet in Pisces constellation SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 9, 2014 -- A team led by SF State astronomer Stephen Kane has discovered a new giant planet located in a star system within the Pisces constellation. The planet, perhaps ...

High costs of research at universities made worse by funding gap

2014-01-10
High costs of research at universities made worse by funding gap 'Real' costs of research not met by funding available to universities TAMPA, Fla. (Jan. 9, 2014) – Although more opportunity exists for university-based researchers to be innovative, and ...

With instruments in space and on earth, NJIT solar experts monitor the massive solar storm

2014-01-10
With instruments in space and on earth, NJIT solar experts monitor the massive solar storm The first powerful "X-class" solar flare of 2014, in association with another solar phenomenon, a giant cloud of solar particles known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), erupted from ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission

UTA-backed research tackles health challenges across ages

In pancreatic cancer, a race against time

Targeting FGFR2 may prevent or delay some KRAS-mutated pancreatic cancers

[Press-News.org] Marine tubeworms need nudge to transition from larvae state
Intriguing bacterium-animal interaction may have implications for boat owners and the mariculture industry, UH Manoa researchers say