Lam Julie, Cheng Ya-Wen, Chen Wan-Nan U, Li Hsing-Hui, Chen Chii-Shiarng, Peng Shao-En
Department of Biology, University of Ottawa , Ottawa , Ontario , Canada.
Graduate Institute of Marine Biology, National Dong Hwa University , Pingtung , Taiwan.
PeerJ. 2017 Feb 21;5:e2996. doi: 10.7717/peerj.2996. eCollection 2017.
Acontia, located in the gastrovascular cavity of anemone, are thread-like tissue containing numerous stinging cells which serve as a unique defense tissue against predators of the immobile acontiarian sea anemone. Although its morphology and biological functions, such as defense and digestion, have been studied, the defense behavior and the specific events of acontia ejection and retraction are unclear. The aim of this study is to observe and record the detailed process of acontia control in anemones. Observations reveal that the anemone, , possibly controls a network of body muscles and manipulates water pressure in the gastrovascular cavity to eject and retract acontia. Instead of resynthesizing acontia after each ejection, the retraction and reuse of acontia enables the anemone to respond quickly at any given time, thus increasing its overall survivability. Since the anemone is an emerging model for coral biology, this study provides a foundation to further investigate the biophysics, neuroscience, and defense biology of this marine model organism.
刺丝囊位于海葵的消化循环腔中，是一种丝状组织，含有大量刺细胞，作为不动的刺丝囊海葵抵御捕食者的独特防御组织。尽管其形态和生物学功能，如防御和消化，已被研究，但刺丝囊排出和缩回的防御行为及具体过程尚不清楚。本研究的目的是观察和记录海葵中刺丝囊控制的详细过程。观察结果表明，海葵可能控制身体肌肉网络并操纵消化循环腔中的水压来排出和缩回刺丝囊。刺丝囊缩回并重复使用，而不是在每次排出后重新合成，这使海葵能够在任何给定时间快速做出反应，从而提高其整体生存能力。由于这种海葵是珊瑚生物学的新兴模型，本研究为进一步研究这种海洋模式生物的生物物理学、神经科学和防御生物学奠定了基础。
