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Symbiosis

Bacteria seize control of the clock

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 11, pages 362–363 (2013)Cite this article

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The Hawaiian bobtail squid Euprymna scolopes and its luminous symbiont V. fischeri show rhythmic gene expression coinciding with the day–night activities of both partners. In particular, luminescence of V. fischeri in the light organ peaks during the night, providing camouflage for the squid when it is foraging for food. Thus, the provision of light by the symbiont is offset from the environmental light regime, which prompted the authors to ask whether the symbionts have a role in regulating daily rhythm.

First, the authors identified two cryptochrome genes that are expressed in the light organ — escry1 and escry2, which encode blue-light receptors known to influence circadian clock function in other animals. As expected, they found that both genes followed a cyclic pattern of expression in the heads of symbiont-colonized juvenile animals that was synchronous with environmental light. Interestingly, only escry1 followed a similar expression pattern in the light organ, and this was dependent on symbiosis, as uncolonized hosts failed to show the same cyclic rhythm.

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References

  1. Heath-Heckman, E. A. C. et al. Bacterial bioluminescence regulates expression of a host cryptochrome gene in the squid-vibrio symbiosis. mBio 4, e00167-13 (2013)

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  1. Christina Tobin Kåhrström
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Sommer, F. & Bäckhed, F. The gut microbiota — masters of host development and physiology. Nature Rev. Microbiol. 11, 227–238 (2013)

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Kåhrström, C. Bacteria seize control of the clock. Nat Rev Microbiol 11, 362–363 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro3027

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