Israeli Scientists Discover a Unique Immune System in Sea Anemones
The sea anemone, an ancient marine animal, developed its own distinct way of fighting off viruses, Israeli researchers have found in a groundbreaking study. Scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, working in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, identified a previously unknown protein that has helped the immune system of Nematostella vectensis, the starlet sea anemone, defend against viral attack across all those millions of years. The peer-reviewed findings were published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
The team discovered a CARD protein, a structural building block they named CARDIB, which prevents an unnecessary immune response by binding to the creature's sensor for viruses. Lead author Ton Sharoni noted that gene names are often highly technical and difficult to remember, and said the team was pleased to be able to build an acronym, standing for CARD Inhibitor Binding Protein, that actually reflects what the protein does. The discovery upends the long-held assumption that all animals inherited a single antiviral system from one common ancestor, pointing instead to more than one evolutionary solution to the same challenge.
Sea anemones belong, along with corals and jellyfish, to the cnidarians, a large group of aquatic invertebrates. Because anemones are such close relatives of corals, the researchers believe these findings could open new avenues for confronting the threat facing coral reefs worldwide. Prof. Yehu Moran, who supervised the research and heads the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the Hebrew University, observed that roughly thirty percent of life in the sea depends on corals, and that when corals die, the fish and invertebrates that rely on them die as well. Studying the antiviral system of the sea anemone, he said, offers a path toward saving the corals and saving life in the seas.
(TOI/VFI News)
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