Fluctuations in immune response (phenol oxidase activity) related to circadian and lunar cycles in the symbiotic anemone Exaiptasia diaphana (Actinaria: Aiptasiidae)
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Abstract
The immune capacity of cnidarians allows them to maintain the integrity of their tissues and prevent infections when facing threats of damage. Cnidarians have an innate immune system that includes melanin and enzymes, like phenol oxidase, that is activated in the presence of pathogens and generates reactive and toxic compounds for their elimination. The anemone Exaiptasia diaphana is a model organism for symbiosis, nutrition, and immune studies, as it maintains a facultative symbiosis with microalgae of the Symbiodiniaceae family, like corals; E. diaphana can also exist in an aposymbiotic state. Therefore, E. diaphana is a suitable model to study the cnidarian immune system. To learn about the basic immune activity of this anemone, we asked ourselves if it exhibited variability in its immune activity throughout the day, considering 2 lunar phases (full moon and new moon). Mucus samples were taken from 6 symbiotic and 6 aposymbiotic anemones, which were previously acclimatized and maintained in 6-well plates with filtered seawater under natural light conditions. Phenol oxidase activity was estimated every 6 h for 48 h, with 2 repetitions for each moon phase. Phenol oxidase activity was highest at 14:00 h, whereas nocturnal activity was low. Enzyme activity increased under the full moon in aposymbiotic anemones (H = 17.47, P = 0.0005). We found a negative relationship between symbiont density and phenol oxidase activity (R2 = 0.05, P = 0.04). These results allow us to suggest that this anemone can maintain a constant constitutive immunity under laboratory conditions, which responds to biological cycles such as circadian and moon cycles.
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