Title: Immunophylogenetic aspects of a Gorgonian coral
Abstract: One goal of comparative immunology is to derive inferences about evolutionary pathways in the development of immune-defense systems. Almost 700 million years ago, a major divergence occurred in the phylogeny of animals, spitting all descendants into either the protostome or deuterostome (includes vertebrates) lineages. Genes have evolved independently along these lineages for that amount of time. Cnidarians originated before that divergence event, and can hold clues as to which immune response genes are homologous to both lineages. This work uses the gorgonian coral, Swiftia exserfa, for two major reasons: 1) because of their phylogenetic position, corals are an important animal model in studies concerning the phylogeny of immune-response genes, and 2) nothing is known about the genes controlling immunocompetence in corals. The work described here has important implications in both innate and adaptive immunity.