In our latest YouTube podcast, we talked with Dr. Jay, a postdoctoral fellow from the University of Düsseldorf, Germany. He explained the fascinating insights about the symbiotic relation between organisms and their importance.
During the conversation, Dr. Jay explained his work on understanding the symbiosis relationship in marine organisms and its impact on climate change. His deep research and genetic analysis revealed some interesting knowledge.
He also explained how climate change impacts the symbiotic relationship, for example, between the corals and green algae and leads to coral bleaching. He explained the entire concept by his work on hydra, green algae, bacteria and coral. Here are some insights, important time stamps and quotes from the discussion.
To know more, you can watch your podcast on YouTube or listen to it on Spotify.
Key Topics:
Keynotes:
- Dr. Jay Bathia uses Green Hydra as a model to study symbiosis between animals, algae, and bacteria, which helps understand coral bleaching.
- Coral bleaching occurs when algae leave corals due to heat stress, destabilizing the symbiosis and leading to coral death.
- Hydra-algae symbiosis involves nutrient exchange: algae provide sugars (maltose), and Hydra provides nitrogen.
- Bacteria play a critical role in protecting Hydra from pathogens, forming a tripartite interaction between Hydra, algae, and bacteria.
- Findings from Hydra research can model coral responses to climate change and guide conservation strategies.
Important Timestamps:
- 00:57 – 03:01: Explanation of coral bleaching and algae symbiosis.
- 03:53 – 05:22: Introduction of Green Hydra as a model system and the concept of tripartite interaction with bacteria.
- 06:20 – 07:01: Nutrient exchange mechanism between Hydra and algae.
- 07:53 – 08:29: Effect of pathogens like Legionella and algal propagation in Hydra populations.
- 13:32 – 14:45: Dr. Jay’s career journey, postdoc experience, and future research plans.
Facts:
- Corals are tiny animals with two cell layers, housing intracellular algae.
- Green Hydra can regenerate from a single cell and is easy to maintain in the lab.
- Algae inside Hydra produce maltose, while Hydra provides nitrogen via glutamine synthase.
- Pathogenic bacteria like Legionella can infect Hydra if algae are absent, destabilizing the symbiosis.
- Hydra research insights are being applied to understand coral resilience under climate change.
Five Quotes:
- “Now this relation is mutualistic, meaning that they both benefit each other.” – Jay
- “We call this a tripartite interaction.” – Jay
- “This algae that left the animals, it can be taken up by other animals… and as a result, this Legionella will not be able to survive.” – Jay
- “Just look at the genomics, actually, this particular algae… it has to depend on Hydra for nitrogen.” – Jay
- “I would like to broaden my horizon, learn from Hydra, but confirm and validate our findings in a higher model system.” – Jay
Dr. Jay Bathia wants to continue his work in this field, explore more about the symbiosis and the role of climate change on marine life.
