Originally published as Genetics Published Articles Ahead of Print on October 18, 2007.

Genetics, Vol. 177, 2101-2107, December 2007, Copyright © 2007
doi:10.1534/genetics.107.075689

Differential Effect of Allorecognition Loci on Phenotype in Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa)

Anahid E. Powell^*,1, Matthew L. Nicotra^*, Maria A. Moreno, Fadi G. Lakkis, Stephen L. Dellaporta and Leo W. Buss^*,

^* Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, and Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520 and Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, Departments of Surgery and Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261

¹ Corresponding author: Osborn Memorial Labs, Yale University, P. O. Box 208106, 165 Prospect St., New Haven, CT 06520-8106.
E-mail: anahid.powell{at}yale.edu

The allorecognition complex of Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus is a chromosomal interval containing two loci, alr1 and alr2, that controls fusion between genetically distinct colonies. Recombination between these two loci has been associated with a heterogeneous class of phenotypes called transitory fusion. A large-scale backcross was performed to generate a population of colonies (N = 106) with recombination breakpoints within the allorecognition complex. Two distinct forms of transitory fusion were correlated with reciprocal recombination products, suggesting that alr1 and alr2 contributed differentially to the allorecognition response. Specifically, type I transitory fusion is associated with rapid and persistent separation of allogeneic tissues, whereas type II transitory fusion generates a patchwork of continuously fusing and separating tissues.

International Access Link

Online ISSN: 1943-2361  Print ISSN: 0016-6731
Copyright 2009 by the Genetics Society of America
phone: 412-268-1812   fax: 412-268-1813   email: genetics-gsa{at}andrew.cmu.edu