Squid-Vibrio Symbiosis

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This image shows an adult Euprymna scolopes (Hawaiian bobtail squid), a species of bioluminescent sepiolid squid. Image Credit: M. J. McFall-Ngai and E. G. Ruby, University of Hawaii. Provided courtesy of the National Science Foundation.

• An Enlightening Toxin. This article discusses the squid light organ, squid-bacteria (Vibrio) symbiosis, and the requirement of a bacterial toxin for light organ development. Part of... (more info)
  
• An Illuminating Partnership for Squid. This online news article features insights into understanding aspects of the relationship between the squid Euprymna scolopes and its bioluminescent symbiont... (more info)
  
• Brave New Biosphere: Story of a Squid. This Why Files informative page is part of a series that features the narrative of Bob, the bobtail squid. Bob describes the symbiotic relationship formed between... ( This site may be offline. )
  
• Future Medicine From Squid. This news article reports an exciting discovery about a toxic molecule found in both humans and in the Hawaiian bobtail squid that may hold the medical key for... (more info)
  
• In a Tiny Squid, Bacterial Toxin Governs Organ Development. This EurekAlert! kids news article features information about the toxic molecule, tracheal cytotoxin, which is responsible for forming a light producing organ in the... (more info)
  
• Inside a squid flashlight. The EurekAlert news article for kids features a brief summary of the Hawaiian bobtail squid. This animal has a built-in flashlight on its underside, which is beamed... ( This site is likely no longer available. )
  
• Squid's Built-In Light to Inspire New Gadgets?. This National Geographic news article describes a type of nocturnal squid found in the ocean around Hawaii which mates using a built-in flashlight to hide its shadow... (more info)
  
• Vibrio fischeri. This Wikipedia entry describes Vibrio fischeri, a rod-shaped bacterium found globally in marine environments. This bacterium has bioluminescent properties, and is... (more info)
  

Explore Squid-Vibrio Symbiosis & Bioluminescence in the Classroom

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Colonies of the bioluminescent marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri. The photograph of colonies growing on agar (left) was taken with a light source. The photograph of colonies on the right was taken using their own bioluminescence as a light source. Image Credit: J. W. Hastings, Harvard University, through E. G. Ruby, University of Hawaii. Provided courtesy of the National Science Foundation.

• Cephalopod Lesson Plans. This collection of lesson plans, created by the Bermuda Biological Station for Research, highlights color change in cephalopods. This page provides links to each lesson... (more info)
  
• Glow: Living Lights. This 48-page Teacher's Guide accompanies the "Glow: Living Lights" exhibit at the San Diego Natural History Museum. In PDF format, the guide contains 12 lesson plans that... (more info)
  
• Isolation of Pure Cultures Of Bacteria: Vibrio phosphoreum from Squid or Ocean Fish. This educational web page presents an isolation protocol for the bioluminescent bacteria Vibrio phosphoreum. It includes an introduction to Vibrio, safety concerns... (more info)
  
• Light at the Bottom of the Deep, Dark Ocean?. This Ocean Explorer interactive, hands-on lesson plan (PDF) leads students on an exploration of deepwater adaptations by addressing the focus question: What... ( This site may be offline. )
  
• Squid Lab. This online handbook features a downloadable PDF of pre-and post-visit activities for the Squid Lab, a traveling outreach program hosted by the National Aquarium in... (more info)
  
• Who Has the Light?. This NOAA classroom activity explores bioluminescence. This PDF addresses: Which deep-sea organisms are capable of bioluminescence, and how does this ability benefit... (more info)
  

Advanced Resources

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Ventral dissection of an adult Euprymna scolopes, a species of bioluminescent sepiolid squid. The mantle cavity is visible, including the interior bilobed light organ that allows the squid to produce bioluminescent light. Image Credit: M. J. McFall-Ngai and E. G. Ruby, University of Hawaii. Provided courtesy of the National Science Foundation.

• An Exclusive Contract: Specificity in the Vibrio fischeri-Euprymna scolopes Partnership . This Journal of Bacteriology mini-review explores specificity in the Vibrio fischeri-Euprymna scolopes partnership. Euprymna scolopes hosts a symbiotic colony of... (more info)
  
• Bacterial Symbionts Induce Host Organ Morphogenesis During Early Postembryonic Development of the Squid Euprymna scolopes. This journal abstract discusses the mutualistic association between the squid Euprymna scolopes and the bacterium Vibrio fischeri, an emerging experimental... (more info)
  
• Complete genome sequence of Vibrio fischeri: A symbiotic bacterium with pathogenic congeners . This PNAS scholarly article reports the genome sequence of V. fischeri ES114, which enters into a mutualistic symbiosis in the light organ of the bobtail squid... (more info)
  
• Dominance of Vibrio fischeri in Secreted Mucus outside the Light Organ of Euprymna scolopes: the First Site of Symbiont Specificity . This Applied and Environmental Microbiology journal article analyzes symbiont specificity of the Euprymna scolopes-Vibrio fischeri symbiosis. Previous studies... (more info)
  
• The Light-Organ Symbiosis of Vibrio fischeri and the Hawaiian squid, Euprymna scolopes. This informational web page features the luminescent bacteria that live within the light organs of the bobtailed squid and the Hawaiian squid. The page... ( This site may be offline. )
  
• The Winnowing: Establishing the Squid-Vibrio Symbiosis. This Nature Reviews Microbiology article examines the symbiosis between the squid Euprymna scolopes and its luminous bacterial symbiont, Vibrio fischeri. Using... (more info)
  
• The development of cooperative associations between animals and bacteria: Establishing detente among domains . This scholarly journal article examines aspects of how alliances with prokaryotes may have been integrated into the mechanisms and patterns of host animal developmental... (more info)
  
• Two-Component Sensor Required for Normal Symbiotic Colonization of Euprymna scolopes by Vibrio fischeri . (more info)
  
• Vibrio Fischeri Genome Project. This website features the Vibrio fischeri Genome Project. Led by a consortium of scientists working with this organism, in collaboration with Integrated Genomics,... ( This site is likely no longer available. )
  

Meet the Scientists

• Dr. Cheryl A. Whistler. This University of New Hampshire faculty page features a summary of Dr. CA Whistler's current research. Using the symbiosis of the bioluminescent bacterium, Vibrio... (more info)
  
• Eric V. Stabb, Ph.D. . This University of Georgia faculty page features Eric V. Stabb, Assistant Professor of Microbiology. His research focuses on the light organ symbiosis between the... (more info)
  
• Margaret McFall-Ngai Lab. (more info)
  
• The Ruby Lab. This University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical Microbiology and Immunology website features the Edward G. Ruby Lab. The Ruby Lab is attempting to define the behavioral, physiological... (more info)
  
• Visick Lab: Home of the Vibrio-Euprymna Symbiosis. This website features general information about the lab of Karen Visick, which studies the genes needed to establish an interaction between the small Hawaiian squid Euprymna... (more info)
  

Additional Resources