An Exclusive Contract: Specificity in the Vibrio fischeri-Euprymna scolopes Partnership
https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/JB.182.7.1779-1787.2000#:~:text=An%20Exclusive%20Contract%3A%20Specificity%20in%20the%20Vibrio%20fischeri%2DEuprymna%20scolopes%20Partnership,-Authors%3A%20Karen%20L&text=In%20the%20threatening%20world%20of,Euprymna%20

Karen L. Visick, Margaret J. McFall-Ngai, Journal of Bacteriology


This Journal of Bacteriology mini-review explores specificity in the Vibrio fischeri-Euprymna scolopes partnership. Euprymna scolopes hosts a symbiotic colony of the bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri as a sophisticated anti-predation measure. During its nocturnal feeding period, the squid emits light downward and modulates it to match the intensity of moonlight, thus preventing the formation of a telltale shadow on the ocean floor below. Maintenance of this bioluminescent bacterial partner is therefore important for survival of the squid, which has evolved a special organ in the center of its body cavity for promoting growth of the bacteria and controlling the emission of light. This mini-review places the role of specificity in the development of cooperative light organ symbiosis into a conceptual framework. It reviews the nature of the landscape and the scale over which the process of colonization takes place by putting into context the relationship of the bacterial macro-ecology to the micro-ecology of the host's body cavity.

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Subject: Biology:Ecology:Symbiotic Relations:Mutualism, Biology:Ecology:Habitats:Marine, Biology:Microbiology, Microbiology:Methods of Microbiology :Microscopy
Resource Type: Scientific Resources:Overview/Reference Work
Grade Level: Graduate/Professional, College Upper (15-16), College Lower (13-14)
Theme: Teach the Earth:Course Topics:Ecology