Suberites
| Suberites | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Suberites domuncula | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Porifera |
| Class: | Demospongiae |
| Order: | Hadromerida |
| Family: | Suberitidae |
| Genus: |
Suberites Nardo, 1833 |
| Species: | see text |
Suberites is a genus of sea sponges in the family Suberitidae. Sponges, known scientifically as Porifera, are the oldest metazoans and are used to elucidate the basics of multicellular evolution. These living fossils are ideal for studying the principal features of metazoans, such as extracellular matrix interactions, signal-receptor systems, nervous or sensory systems, and primitive immune systems. Thus, sponges are useful tools with which to study early animal evolution. They appeared approximately 580 million years ago.
As members of the oldest phylum of metazoans, Suberites serve as model organisms to elucidate features of the earliest animals.Suberites and their relatives are used to determine the structure of the first metazoans and have been studied to determine how totipotency has replaced by pluripotency in most higher animals. Among other things, Suberites show that tyrosine-phosphorylation machinery evolved in animals independently from other eukaryotes.Suberites are also used as models to elucidate the evolution of transmembrane receptors and cell-junction proteins. A combination of stem cell and apoptosis factors studies is used as a model for studies of development in higher animals.
Suberites are a global genus. One species, Suberites zeteki, is found in Hawaii. S. zeteki associates with many fungi. Another, S. japonicas, is native to the waters around Japan.S. aurantiacus is found in the Caribbean sea.S.carnosus lives in the India Ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea and can also be found in Irish waters.S. diversicolor can be found in Indonesia. Due to Suberites’ ability to efficiently filter water, many microbes, especially fungal species, are filtered through. If these microbes escape digestion, they can deposit on the sponge and reside there indefinitely. Symbiotic bacteria produce toxins, such as okadaic acid, which defend them from colonization by parasitic annelids. Expression of various enzymes by Suberites influences the growth of their symbiotic bacteria.Suberites often live on the shells on the mollusk Hexaplex trunculus.Suberites have mechanisms of defense against predation, such as the toxic chemicals found below.
Suberites display neuronal communications, but neuronal networks are mysteriously missing. However, they do have many of the same receptors and signals found in higher animals. Researchers in China and Germany have found that sponge spicules contribute to their neural communication. In effect, the siliaceous structures act as fiber optic cables to convey light signals generated from the protein luciferase. The sponges generate light from luciferin, after it is acted upon by luciferase.Suberites have also been shown to produce light in response to tactile stimulation.Suberites consist mostly of cells, in contrast with other Porifera (such as the class Hexactinellida) which are synctial. As a result, Suberites have slower reaction times in their neural communication. Suberites utilized many Ras-like GTPases which are used for signaling and affect development. According to comparative studies, Suberites have some of the most simple indicator proteins, such as collagen, of known animals. Like all sponges, Suberites are filter-feeders. They are extremely efficient and can process thousands of liters of water per day.S. domuncula has been used for study of graft rejection. Researchers have discovered that apoptotic factors are induced in the tissue that is rejected.
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