Cnidofest 2018: the future is bright for cnidarian research

Abstract

The 2018 Cnidarian Model Systems Meeting (Cnidofest) was held September 6-9th at the University of Florida Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience in St. Augustine, FL. Cnidofest 2018, which built upon the momentum of Hydroidfest 2016, brought together research communities working on a broad spectrum of cnidarian organisms from North America and around the world. Meeting talks covered diverse aspects of cnidarian biology, with sessions focused on genomics, development, neurobiology, immunology, symbiosis, ecology, and evolution. In addition to interesting biology, Cnidofest also emphasized the advancement of modern research techniques. Invited technology speakers showcased the power of microfluidics and single-cell transcriptomics and demonstrated their application in cnidarian models. In this report, we provide an overview of the exciting research that was presented at the meeting and discuss opportunities for future research.

Keywords: Aiptasia; Cassiopeia; Cnidarians; Hydra; Hydractinia; Nematostella.

Fig. 1

Cnidarian model systems represented at Cnidofest. a A hermaphroditic green Hydra polyp bearing a testes and an egg (courtesy of Stefan Siebert). b Gastrozooids and gonozooids of a Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus colony (courtesy of Steven Sanders). c Nematostella vectensis adult polyp (courtesy of Shuonan He). d The banded tube-dwelling anemone, Isarachnanthus nocturnes (courtesy of Sérgio Stampar). e A Cordylophora colony growing on eelgrass (courtesy of Nadine Folino Rorem and E. Sally Chang). f Medusa of Cassiopea spp. (courtesy of Casandra Newkirk)

Fig. 2

Technical advancements boost cnidarian research. a Fluorescent micrograph of a Hydractinia symbiolonigcarpus gastrozooid expressing eGFP (green) from the endogenous Eukaryotic elongation factor 1 alpha (Eef1a) locus. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated homologous recombination enables efficient and precise genome editing in Hydractinia and opens up new possibilities for future research (courtesy of Steven Sanders). b LWamide-positive neurons (red) surrounding the pharynx of a Nematostella primary polyp, counter stained with phalloidin (green). c LWamide-positive neurons in an adult Nematostella tentacle. Establishment of various transgenic lines such as NvLWamide:: mCherry animals illustrated above enables direct visualization of specific neurons and provides new insights into the development, regeneration, and function of the relatively diffused cnidarian nervous system (courtesy of Jamie Havrilak)