Mapping sea urchins tube feet proteome — A unique hydraulic mechano-sensory adhesive organ

2013 ◽  
Vol 79 ◽  
pp. 100-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romana Santos ◽  
Ângela Barreto ◽  
Catarina Franco ◽  
Ana Varela Coelho
Keyword(s):  
Sea Urchins ◽  
Adhesive Organ ◽  
Tube Feet

scholarly journals Interspecific Analysis of Sea Urchin Adhesive Composition Emphasizes Variability of Glycans Conjugated With Putative Adhesive Proteins

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Gaspar ◽  
Patrick Flammang ◽  
Ricardo José ◽  
Ricardo Luis ◽  
Patrício Ramalhosa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Sea Urchins ◽  
Secretory Granules ◽  
Paracentrotus Lividus ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Lectin Histochemistry ◽  
Additional Species ◽  
Adhesive Organs ◽  
Adhesive Proteins ◽  
Tube Feet

Sea urchins possess specialized adhesive organs, tube feet. Although initially believed to function as suckers, it is currently accepted that they rely on adhesive and de-adhesive secretions to attach and detach repeatedly from the substrate. Given the biotechnological potential of their strong reversible adhesive, sea urchins are under investigation to identify the protein and glycan molecules responsible for its surface coupling, cohesion and polymerization properties. However, this characterization has only focused on a single species, Paracentrotus lividus. To provide a broader insight into sea urchins adhesion, a comparative study was performed using four species belonging to different taxa and habitats: Diadema africanum, Arbacia lixula, Paracentrotus lividus and Sphaerechinus granularis. Their tube feet external morphology and histology was studied, together with the ultrastructure of their adhesive secretory granules. In addition, one antibody and five lectins were used on tube foot histological sections and extracts, and on adhesive footprints to detect the presence of adhesion-related (glyco)proteins like those present in P. lividus in other species. Results confirmed that the antibody raised against P. lividus Nectin labels the adhesive organs and footprints in all species. This result was further confirmed by a bioinformatic analysis of Nectin-like sequences in ten additional species, increasing the comparison to seven families and three orders. The five tested lectins (GSL II, WGA, STL, LEL, and SBA) demonstrated that there is high interspecific variability of the glycans involved in sea urchin adhesion. However, there seems to be more conservation among taxonomically closer species, like P. lividus and S. granularis. In these species, lectin histochemistry and lectin blots indicated the presence of high molecular weight putative adhesive glycoproteins bearing N-acetylglucosamine residues in the form of chitobiose in the adhesive epidermis and footprints. Our results emphasize a high selective pressure for conservation of functional domains in large putative cohesive proteins and highlight the importance of glycosylation in sea urchin adhesion with indications of taxonomy-related conservation of the conjugated glycans.

scholarly journals Characterization of the glycans involved in sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus reversible adhesion

2020 ◽  
Vol 167 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Simão ◽  
Mariana Moço ◽  
Luís Marques ◽  
Romana Santos
Keyword(s):  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Sea Urchins ◽  
Paracentrotus Lividus ◽  
Reversible Adhesion ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Complementary Techniques ◽  
Adhesive Organs ◽  
Tube Feet ◽  
Glycosidic Fraction

Abstract Sea urchins have hundreds of specialized adhesive organs, the tube feet, which play a key role in locomotion, substrate attachment and food capture. Tube feet are composed by two functional units: a proximal cylindrical stem that is mobile and flexible, attached to a distal flattened disc that produces adhesive secretions. Oral tube feet discs possess a specialized duo-glandular epidermis that produces adhesive and de-adhesive secretions, enabling strong but reversible adhesion to the substrate. Due to the growing interest in biomimetic adhesives, several studies have been carried out to characterize sea urchin adhesives, and up to date, it has been shown that it is composed by proteins and glycans. The protein fraction has been the subject of several studies, that pin-pointed several adhesion-related candidates. Contrastingly, little is known about the glycans that compose sea urchin adhesives. This study aims at contributing to this topic by focusing on the characterization of the glycosidic fraction of the adhesive secreted by the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816), using a battery of 22 lectins, applied to 3 complementary techniques. Our results show that five lectins label exclusively the disc adhesive epidermis and simultaneously the secreted adhesive, being, therefore, most likely relevant for sea urchin adhesion. In addition, it was possible to determine that the glycosidic fraction of the adhesive is composed by a high molecular weight glycoprotein containing N-acetylglucosamine oligomers.

Memory of direction of locomotion in sea urchins: effects of nerves on direction and activity of tube feet

2018 ◽  
Vol 165 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuya Yoshimura ◽  
Hajimu Tsurimaki ◽  
Tatsuo Motokawa
Keyword(s):  
Sea Urchins ◽  
Tube Feet

Electrical Activity in the Radial Nerve Cord And Ampullae of Sea Urchins

1965 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-256
Author(s):  
D. C. SANDEMAN
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Activity ◽  
Nerve Cord ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Radial Nerve ◽  
Sea Urchins ◽  
Side Branch ◽  
Single Shock ◽  
Lateral Branches ◽  
Tube Feet ◽  
Stimulation Of

1. A single shock applied through wick electrodes to the isolated radial nerve cord of a sea urchin produces a recordable potential in the cord. The potential is conducted along the cord at a velocity of between 14 and 20 cm./sec. 2. The potential is complex and graded. Two components of the potential can be identified and have different thresholds to stimulation, conduction velocities and amplitudes. They are believed to represent two classes of fibres. 3. The potential is conducted decrementally along the cord and normally cannot be recorded at distances greater than 6o mm. from the stimulus. The amplitude of the potential decays logarithmically falling to half after 7 mm. spread. There is no facilitation of amplitude or distance of spread. 4. Potentials initiated simultaneously at either end of the isolated nerve cord collide and partially occlude each other. 5. Stimulation of a side branch of the nerve cord evokes potentials recordable from only ipsilateral neighbouring side branches and the whole cord. However, contractions of the contralateral ampullae following stimulation of lateral branches reveal spread of the excitation beyond the region of recordable potentials. 6. A single shock to a cord still attached to the test causes contraction of the associated ampullae. One ampulla will contract several times after a single shock, a period of relaxation following each contraction. 7. Electrical activity recorded from the ampullae, and lasting many seconds after the single shock, corresponds with their contractions. The activity is believed to be muscle action potentials. 8. Evidence of a feedback from damaged tube feet to the cord, suppressing ampulla response to cord stimulation, was found.

scholarly journals Sea Urchins as an Inspiration for Robotic Designs

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Stiefel ◽  
Glyn Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Sea Urchins ◽  
Design Principles ◽  
Machine Design ◽  
Neuromorphic Engineering ◽  
Motor Systems ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Intelligent Machine ◽  
Tube Feet

Neuromorphic engineering is the approach to intelligent machine design inspired by nature. Here, we outline possible robotic design principles derived from the neural and motor systems of sea urchins (Echinoida). Firstly, we review the neurobiology and locomotor systems of sea urchins, with a comparative emphasis on differences to animals with a more centralized nervous system. We discuss the functioning and enervation of the tube feet, pedicellariae, and spines, including the limited autonomy of these structures. We outline the design principles behind the sea urchin nervous system. We discuss the current approaches of adapting these principles to robotics, such as sucker-like structures inspired by tube feet and a robotic adaptation of the sea urchin jaw, as well as future directions and possible limitations to using these principles in robots.

scholarly journals Tool Use by Four Species of Indo-Pacific Sea Urchins

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 69
Author(s):  
Glyn Barrett ◽  
Dominic Revell ◽  
Lucy Harding ◽  
Ian Mills ◽  
Axelle Jorcin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Tool Use ◽  
Plant Material ◽  
Transport Mechanism ◽  
Sea Urchins ◽  
Coral Rubble ◽  
Protection Mechanism ◽  
Covering Material ◽  
Tripneustes Gratilla ◽  
Tube Feet

We compared the covering behavior of four sea urchin species, Tripneustes gratilla, Pseudoboletia maculata, Toxopneustes pileolus, and Salmacis sphaeroides found in the waters of Malapascua Island, Cebu Province and Bolinao, Panagsinan Province, Philippines. Specifically, we measured the amount and type of covering material on each sea urchin, and in several cases, the recovery of debris material after stripping the animal of its cover. We found that Tripneustes gratilla and Salmacis sphaeroides have a higher affinity for plant material, especially seagrass, compared to Pseudoboletia maculata and Toxopneustes pileolus, which prefer to cover themselves with coral rubble and other calcified material. Only in Toxopneustes pileolus did we find a significant corresponding depth-dependent decrease in total cover area, confirming previous work that covering behavior serves as a protection mechanism against UV radiation. We found no dependence of particle size on either species or size of sea urchin, but we observed that larger sea urchins generally carried more and heavier debris. We observed a transport mechanism of debris onto the echinoid body surface utilizing a combination of tube feet and spines. We compare our results to previous studies, comment on the phylogeny of sea urchin covering behavior, and discuss the interpretation of this behavior as animal tool use.

scholarly journals The Covering Reaction of Sea-Urchins

1956 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 508-523
Author(s):  
NORMAN MILLOTT
Keyword(s):  
Light Intensity ◽  
Light Source ◽  
Sea Urchins ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Lytechinus Variegatus ◽  
Strong Light ◽  
Dim Light ◽  
Tube Feet

1. Lytechinus variegatus (Lamarck) covers the parts of its skin that are exposed to light with fragments taken from its surroundings. 2. The covering is taken up by the tube feet, assisted by the spines, and held in place by the tube feet acting in relays. It may be orientated with respect to the light source. There are indications of adaptability of behaviour where the covering pieces offer resistance to being lifted. 3. Covering is related to light and to diurnal light changes, being assumed in strong light and rejected, after a varying interval of time, in darkness. Both continuous bright light and decreases in light intensity evoke covering. The tube feet react to the same stimuli and the speed of their extension is roughly proportional to the change of intensity. 4. The tendency to cover is increased after a sojourn in darkness and is greater in pale individuals than in dark ones. 5. Urchins can be photosensitized by injection of dyes so that they cover in dim light. 6. The prehension and holding of covering does not involve the oral and aboral nerve rings. 7. The relation of covering to light and environment favours the idea that it acts as a screen against strong light.

scholarly journals Substituting mouse transcription factor Pou4f2 with a sea urchin orthologue restores retinal ganglion cell development

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1826) ◽  
pp. 20152978 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chai-An Mao ◽  
Cavit Agca ◽  
Julie A. Mocko-Strand ◽  
Jing Wang ◽  
Esther Ullrich-Lüter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Sea Urchins ◽  
Photoreceptor Cells ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Mammalian Retina ◽  
Morphological Differences ◽  
And Function ◽  
Tube Feet

Pou domain transcription factor Pou4f2 is essential for the development of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in the vertebrate retina. A distant orthologue of Pou4f2 exists in the genome of the sea urchin (class Echinoidea) Strongylocentrotus purpuratus ( SpPou4f1/2 ), yet the photosensory structure of sea urchins is strikingly different from that of the mammalian retina. Sea urchins have no obvious eyes, but have photoreceptors clustered around their tube feet disc. The mechanisms that are associated with the development and function of photoreception in sea urchins are largely unexplored. As an initial approach to better understand the sea urchin photosensory structure and relate it to the mammalian retina, we asked whether SpPou4f1/2 could support RGC development in the absence of Pou4f2 . To answer this question, we replaced genomic Pou4f2 with an SpPou4f1/2 cDNA. In Pou4f2 -null mice, retinas expressing SpPou4f1/2 were outwardly identical to those of wild-type mice. SpPou4f1/2 retinas exhibited dark-adapted electroretinogram scotopic threshold responses, indicating functionally active RGCs. During retinal development, SpPou4f1/2 activated RGC-specific genes and in S. purpuratus , SpPou4f2 was expressed in photoreceptor cells of tube feet in a pattern distinct from Opsin4 and Pax6. Our results suggest that SpPou4f1/2 and Pou4f2 share conserved components of a gene network for photosensory development and they maintain their conserved intrinsic functions despite vast morphological differences in mouse and sea urchin photosensory structures.

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