Hydroidfest 2016: celebrating a renaissance in hydrozoan research

Abstract

Hydroidfest 2016 took place on September 23-25 at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory in Bodega Bay, CA. The meeting brought together cnidarian researchers, with an emphasis on those studying hydrozoans, from North America and other parts of the world. The scientific topics discussed were diverse, including sessions focused on development, regeneration, aging, immunology, symbiosis, and neurobiology. Thanks to the application of modern biological technologies, hydrozoans and other cnidarians are now fertile ground for research in numerous disciplines. Moreover, their amenability to comparative approaches is a powerful asset that was repeatedly showcased during the meeting. Here, we give a brief account of the work that was presented and the opportunities that emerged from the ensuing discussions.

Keywords: Aiptasia; Cassiopea; Hydra; Hydractinia; Hydrozoans; Siphonophores.

Fig. 1

Cnidarians discussed at Hydroidfest. a Two colonies of Hydractinia that are rejecting each other (courtesy of Matthew Nicotra; scale bar 1 mm). b Cassiopea (courtesy of C. Newkirk; scale bar 3 mm), c Hydra male (left) and female (right) (courtesy of S. Siebert; scale bar 1 mm), d Aiptasia (courtesy of T. Tivey; scale bar 2 mm), e Physonect siphonophore Apolemia sp. with functionally specialized zooids arranged along the stem of the colony. Anterior part of a colony is shown (Courtesy of S. Siebert; scale bar 1 cm)

Fig. 2

Cnidarians provide unique research opportunities. a Following formation of an aggregate from a suspension of Hydra cells, endodermal (red DsRed2) and ectodermal (green GFP) epithelial cells separate into distinct tissue layers. Left T = 0 h. Right T = 4 h (courtesy of O. Cochet-Escartin; scale bar 200 µm). b Aiptasia with Symbiodinium symbionts. Left polyp (blue, Hoechst staining); symbionts (red). Right magnified view of the boxed region in the left image (courtesy of T. Tivey; scale bar 15 µm)