Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a new way to characterize localization of luminous bacteria within the Hawaiian bobtail squid and how the genes of each species are transcriptionally regulated. The adapted technique, hybridization chain reaction-fluorescent in situ hybridization (HCR-FISH), allowed the researchers to identify the location of symbiotic bacteria within the squid and visualize transcription of genes occurring at that location.
The research is a first step towards understanding how and when colonization of luminous bacteria within the squid occurs and what interactions between the species control colonization. This research is important because it addresses a poorly-understood, but highly specific symbiotic critical for the survival of both species. It also shows that the technique, HCR-FISH, can be used to identify stages during which colonization of a symbiont occur.
Read the abstract and full study here.
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