Pattern of settlement and natural chimerism in the colonial urochordate Botryllus schlosseri

Rachel Ben-Shlomo*, Uzi Motro, Guy Paz, Baruch Rinkevich

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Scopus citations

Abstract

Colonies of the cosmopolitan urochordate Botryllus schlosseri that share one or both alleles at a single allorecognition locus (Fu/HC) and come into tissue contacts, may fuse and form a mixed entity, a chimera. Botryllus populations worldwide exhibit unprecedented extensive polymorphism at this locus, a result that restricts fusions to kin encounters. This study aims to compare spatiotemporal configurations in source and introduced B. schlosseri populations, residing on natural and man-made substrata, respectively. By using four microsatellite loci, we tested genetic consanguinity of colonies settled naturally along spatial vectors on both, natural (native populations) and man-made (introduced) substrates. Four populations were studied. Results revealed that B. schlosseri colonies, on both substrate types, assemble in groups of relatives that share similar microsatellite profiles. We suggest that this pattern of settlement promotes the formation of chimeras, which evoke conflicting interactions: cooperation between different somatic cell lines that constitute the colonial soma and competition between germ cells that inhabit the chimera gonads. Under natural conditions, the chimera may allow genetic flexibility that depends on joint genomic fitness of its partners. This is probably one of the life history characteristics that led to the worldwide distribution success of this species.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)51-58
Number of pages8
JournalGenetica
Volume132
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2008

Keywords

  • Ascidians
  • Botryllus schlosser
  • Chimera
  • Kin aggregation
  • Settlement

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