Vertical DNA transfer from endosymbiotic relationship observed in vertebrate species
May 11, 2011 at 6:17 pm
The first observed instance of vertical DNA transfer from an endosymbiotic relationship in a vertebrate species was recently recorded by a team from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. The team announced their findings in the paper . It was published last month in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Scientists have long known about the relationship between these two species, but it wasn’t understood very well. The algae are found within the egg of the salamander where it provides oxygen for the embryo and gets nitrogen rich waste in return. Scientists didn’t understand why the algae weren’t destroyed by the salamander’s immune system. The answer to that problem appears to be that the relationship begins in the embryo prior to the development of the immune system. Even more surprising was the finding that the salamander appears to pass the algae from one generation to the next.
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Scientists have long known about the relationship between these two species, but it wasn’t understood very well. The algae are found within the egg of the salamander where it provides oxygen for the embryo and gets nitrogen rich waste in return. Scientists didn’t understand why the algae weren’t destroyed by the salamander’s immune system. The answer to that problem appears to be that the relationship begins in the embryo prior to the development of the immune system. Even more surprising was the finding that the salamander appears to pass the algae from one generation to the next.
Linky
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