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Oxygen production by endosymbiotic algae controls superoxide dismutase activity in their animal host

Nature volume 297, pages 579–580 (1982)Cite this article

Abstract

Aerobic and aerotolerant organisms have evolved defenses against the toxic effects of molecular oxygen1. One protective mechanism involves the breakdown of the harmful superoxide radical by the enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD). However, levels of oxygen elevated only slightly above normal atmospheric (P O2 of 159 mm Hg) may overpower a cell's defense systems2–4. Although most animals do not naturally encounter oxygen pressures above 1 atm, hyperbaric oxygen levels normally occur in the tissues of marine animals that harbour intracellular algal symbionts, which in light generate more oxygen than is consumed by the combined host and symbionts5–10. We have now found that sea anemones Anthopleura elegantissima (Brandt) containing zooxanthellae (the symbiotic dinoflagellate Symbiodinium microadriaticum) in their gastrodermal tissues have SOD activities nearly two orders of magnitude greater than individuals totally lacking zooxanthellae.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, 04469, USA

    James A. Dykens & J. Malcolm Shick

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  1. James A. Dykens
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Dykens, J., Shick, J. Oxygen production by endosymbiotic algae controls superoxide dismutase activity in their animal host. Nature 297, 579–580 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/297579a0

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