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Colonial nervous control of lophophore retraction in cheilostome Bryozoa.

Nervous impulses causing lophophore retraction over large areas of Membranipora membranacea and Electra pilosa were recorded with external electrodes. The response propagates at about 100 centimeters per second, presumably through the colonial nerve plexus of Hiller and Lutaud. Impulses are rapid up to 200 per second. A second impulse was recorded from individual zooids, probably generated by the polypide's nervous system. The retractor muscle shortens at more than 20 times its own length per second and is apparently the most rapidly contracting muscle known.

Animals↗

Development and release of a malacosporean (Myxozoa) from Plumatella repens (Bryozoa: Phylactolaemata).

During an experiment to transmit Tetracapsula bryosalmonae Canning, Curry, Feist, Longshaw et Okamura, 1999 to a laboratory-cultured bryozoan, Plumatella repens L. a previously undescribed malacosporean species was noted. This parasite produced sacs of spores in the host that reached 1.2 mm in length. The spores released from the sacs appeared similar in size to the two species of Tetracapsula previously described although slight differences in form were noted. Release of spores from the bryozoans was observed associated with the lophophore of the host. The use of experimental bryozoan cultures for the examination of malacosporeans is described and discussed.

Animals↗

Proliferative, presaccular stages of Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae (Myxozoa: Malacosporea) within the invertebrate host Fredericella sultana (Bryozoa: Phylactolaemata).

Proliferative kidney disease (PKD), caused by the malacosporean parasite, Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae, is a major disease of salmonid culture both in western Europe and North America. The fish are infected from spores that develop within freshwater bryozoans and are released into the water column. Although sporogenesis has been studied in the bryozoan host and occurs within sacs, the formation of these sacs from presaccular stages has only been hypothesized. Examination of infected bryozoans by using a range of techniques identified proliferating, presaccular amoeboid stages of T. bryosalmonae on the body wall of the bryozoan Fredericella sultana. These stages possessed unique electron-dense bodies and were observed as aggregating within the bryozoan metacoel, differentiating to form spore sacs. Spore sac growth was associated with the assimilation of the presaccular parasites rather than through cryptomitosis of sac mural cells. This sac formation through aggregation and assimilation suggests an intriguing mechanism by which T. bryosalmonae can cross-fertilize.

Animals↗

Doryporella smirnovi sp. nov. (Bryozoa: Cheilostomata) and its impact on phylogeny and classification.

A new species of Doryporella, D. smirnovi sp. nov. is described from the area of the Commander Islands. Inclusion of this species in a revised phylogenetic analysis of Doryporella and its relatives permits the recognition of a clade comprising Doryporella and Doryporellina. This clade is accorded family-level status as the Doryporellidae fam. nov., thereby removing Doryporella (and Doryporellina) from the large and paraphyletic Calloporidae.

Animals↗

Energetics of larval swimming and metamorphosis in four species of Bugula (Bryozoa).

The amount of energy available to larvae during swimming, location of a suitable recruitment site, and metamorphosis influences the length of time they can spend in the plankton. Energetic parameters such as swimming speed, oxygen consumption during swimming and metamorphosis, and elemental carbon and nitrogen content were measured for larvae of four species of bryozoans, Bugula neritina, B. simplex, B. stolonifera, and B. turrita. The larvae of these species are aplanktotrophic with a short free-swimming phase ranging from less than one hour to a maximum of about 36 hours. There is about a fivefold difference in larval volume among the four species, which scales linearly with elemental carbon content and, presumably, with the amount of endogenous reserves available for swimming and metamorphosis. Mean larval swimming speeds (in centimeters per second) were similar among species. Specific metabolic rate and larval size were inversely related. For larvae of a given species, respiration rates remained similar for swimming and metamorphosis; however, because metamorphosis lasts about twice as long as a maximal larval swimming phase, it was more energetically demanding. Larger larvae expended more energy to complete metamorphosis than did smaller larvae, but in terms of the percentage of larval energy reserves consumed, swimming and metamorphosis were more "expensive" for smaller larvae. A comparison of the energy expended during larval swimming calculated on the basis of oxygen consumption and on the basis of elemental carbon decrease suggests that larvae of Bugula spp. may not use significant amounts of dissolved organic material (DOM) to supplement their endogenous energy reserves.

Animals↗

Taxonomically Important Features on the Surface of Floatoblasts in Plumatella (Bryozoa).

At the species level, bryozoans (class Phylactolaemata) in the family Plumatellidae are difficult to organize taxonomically. Of principal concern is the absence of consistent distinguishing features due mainly to plasticity of the group, a common problem with soft-bodied invertebrates. Yet, within the last three decades, analysis of distinctive chitinous statoblasts-using scanning electron microscopy-has resolved certain taxonomic questions. I examined statoblasts from 30 similar collections, the majority from the midwestern United States, and identified four distinct subgroups. Also, nine new statoblast surface features were identified: fold, polar grooves, bead, cave, demarcation, parasutural zone, ridge, sutural band, and sutural knob. The surface features of floating statoblasts (floatoblasts) provide useful data for species identification. Most consistently useful in plumatellids is a suture which varies from one species to the next. Mound-like tubercles and net-like ridges are next in the extent of variability. Finally, folds and polar grooves are present but vary even within floatoblasts from the same colony. Analysis of the suture in Plumatella fungosa, over a 5-day germination period, reveals all features at the site remain intact regardless of the initial age of the floatoblast. Only the suture line itself splits lengthwise to permit emergence of the new animal.

Journal Article↗

Polarization of competition increases with latitude.

Many organisms overlap in their use of resources in space and time. Where and when resources are restricted, species must compete for them. Living space, often a critical resource controlling food and mate availability, is directly contested by organisms in most habitats. The ensuing animal interactions generally result in a winner gaining space and a loser, which may die. Contact matrices from studies of interference competition in encrusting marine Bryozoa (clonal and colonial animals), spanning at least 60 degrees latitude in both hemispheres, were analysed and subjected to a modern transitivity index. Only data for Bryozoa were used because (i) use of a single taxon with restricted ecology simplifies the scope for types of encounters, (and therefore) interpretation; and (ii) ecological bias is reduced because bryozoans are abundant at all latitudes. The analysis shows that assemblage competition is more hierarchical towards both poles. Thus, poorer competitors fail more frequently in interactions with increasing latitude. The cause of this trend is the simplification of overall outcomes between competitors, such as fewer ties, reversals in outcome or competitive loops (where low-ranking competitors beat those of higher ranking). The implication of such a trend is that the maintenance of biological diversity at high latitudes may principally be by physical rather than biological (competition) processes. Certainly, ocean surface energy increases with latitude through wind and wave action (and ice scour in polar regions).

Animals↗

18S rRNA suggests that Entoprocta are protostomes, unrelated to Ectoprocta.

The Ento- and Ectoprocta are sometimes placed together in the Bryozoa, which have variously been regarded as proto- or deuterostomes. However, Entoprocta have also been allied to the pseudocoelomates, while Ectoprocta are often united with the Brachiopoda and Phoronida in the (super)phylum Lophophorata. Hence, the phylogenetic relationships of these taxa are still much debated. We determined complete 18S rRNA sequences of two entoprocts, an ectoproct, an inarticulate brachiopod, a phoronid, two annelids, and a platyhelminth. Phylogenetic analyses of these data show that (1) entoprocts and lophophorates have spiralian, protostomous affinities, (2) Ento- and Ectoprocta are not sister taxa, (3) phoronids and brachiopods form a monophyletic clade, and (4) neither Ectoprocta or Annelida appear to be monophyletic. Both deuterostomous and pseudocoelomate features may have arisen at least two times in evolutionary history. These results advocate a Spiralia-Radialia-based classification rather than one based on the Protostomia-Deuterostomia concept.

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Potent cytotoxins produced by a microbial symbiont protect host larvae from predation.

Larvae of the sessile marine invertebrate Bugula neritina (Bryozoa) are protected by an effective chemical defense. From the larvae, we isolated three bryostatin-class macrocyclic polyketides, including the novel bryostatin 20, that deterred feeding by a common planktivorous fish that co-occurs with B. neritina. A unique bacterial symbiont of B. neritina, Endobugula sertula, was hypothesized as the putative source of the bryostatins. We show that: (1) bryostatins are concentrated in B. neritina larvae and protect them against predation by fish; (2) the adults are not defended by bryostatins; and (3) E. sertula produces bryostatins. This study represents the first example from the marine environment of a microbial symbiont producing an anti-predator defense for its host and, in this case, specifically for the host's larval stage, which is exceptionally vulnerable to predators.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Electron diffraction studies of the calcareous skeletons of bryozoans.

Electron microscopy and electron diffraction were used to investigate mineral crystallites dissociated from the skeletal walls of six species belonging to the Bryozoa, a phylum of predominantly marine colony-forming invertebrate animals. Four cheilostome bryozoans (Flustra foliacea, Membranipora membranacea, Thalamoporella novaehollandiae and Cellarinella foveolata) and two cyclostomes (Fasciculipora ramosa and Hornera robusta) were analysed. In each case, an attempt was made to relate the crystal morphology imaged in situ by scanning electron microscopy with the crystallographic orientation of isolated crystals determined by electron diffraction analysis in the transmission electron microscope. The results showed that the calcitic cheilostome and cyclostome skeletons consisted of closely packed arrays of plate-like Mg-containing calcite crystallites, and that the crystallographic a-axis was preferentially aligned perpendicular to the top and bottom surfaces of the flattened particles. The results suggest that calcite biomineralization occurs under similar crystallographic constraints in the five species studied even though the origins of cheilostomes and cyclostomes are separated by over 300 million years in the fossil record of the bryozoans. Similar studies for the aragonite crystallites in skeletons of M. membranacea indicated that the crystallographic b-axis was preferentially oriented perpendicular to the basal surfaces of irregular plate-like particles.

Animals↗

Aquaculture of three phyla of marine invertebrates to yield bioactive metabolites: process developments and economics.

Large-scale, renewable supplies of chemical constituents derived from marine invertebrates have limited development of potential new natural product drugs. This paper describes the development of two in-sea aquaculture systems designed and engineered for production of large quantities of biomass for two species of marine invertebrates desired for their natural product chemical constituents. The two invertebrates and their products were: (1) the cosmopolitan, arborescent bryozoan Bugula neritina (Phylum Bryozoa) for its anticancer chemical constituent bryostatin 1; and (2) Ecteinascidia turbinate (Phylum Tunicata) the source of anticancer ecteinascidin 743. For the third invertebrate Phylum Porifera, and its representative sponge Acanthella cavernosa (desired for its anti-parasitic and anti-infective kalihinols) in-sea systems were not developed in favor of controlled environment tank aquaculture systems. For the bryozoan and tunicate, projected economics for commercial-scale in-sea production proved cost effective. This was in contrast to the controlled environment sponge culture tank system, which did not prove to be economical due to inherent slow growth and low natural product yields of the sponge in culture. A non-destructive method for "milking" natural product chemicals from sponges was tested and is described.

Animals↗

Antineoplastic agents. 340. Isolation and structural elucidation of bryostatins 16-18.

Separation of two trace cancer cell growth inhibitory (P388 leukemia) fractions from about 1000 kg of wet Gulf of Mexico Bugula neritina (Bryozoa) has led to the isolation of bryostatins 16-18 (2-4). A combination of HRFABMS and high-field (400 MHz) 1H- and 13C-NMR spectral analyses were employed to assign the structures. The three new 20-desoxybryostatins 16 (2), 17 (3), and 18 (4) showed significant growth inhibitory activity (P388 ED50, 2, 9.3 x 10(-3) micrograms/mL, 3, 1.9 x 10(-2) micrograms/mL, and 4, 3.3 x 10(-3) micrograms/mL) against murine P388 lymphocytic leukemia.

Animals↗