300125 VO Symbiosis - concepts and model systems (Part 1) (2018W)

Symbiosis is one of the driving forces in evolution. The eukaryotic cell and thus all plants, animals and fungi arose from a symbiosis between ancient prokaryotes and today, microbial symbioses dominate our planet.

This lecture series focuses on symbiotic associations between microbes and protists, plants, and animals, including humans. Introductory lectures present key concepts of symbiosis. Lectures on selected model systems illustrate the importance of symbiosis for virtually all life forms. They discuss ecological and evolutionary forces driving symbiotic associations at the molecular level. Topics of introductory lectures include definitions of symbiosis and terminology, diversity of microbial symbioses and their habitats, the eukaryotic cell and endosymbiosis theory, transmission processes, host immune response to microbial symbionts, genome evolution and lateral gene transfer, as well as current evolutionary and game theory concepts of interspecies cooperation.

Conceptual Lectures:
Some moments of confusion – what is symbiosis? Terminology and characterization of symbiosis
Should I stay or should I go - Immunity basics for symbiologists
Symbiont transmission
Symbiont cell biology
How the symbionts influence the host epigenome (and vice versa)
God bless endosymbiosis: The origin of the eukaryotic cell

Model system Lectures:
A sea of symbionts: cnidarian symbioses
Solar powered sea slugs
Thanks to hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide) - an overview of chemosynthetic symbioses
Hot and toxic - giant tubeworms at deep-sea hydrothermal vents
Clam and mussel symbioses in chemosynthesis-based ecosystems
Ship worms on wood - zombie worms on bones
Burying the head in the sand: reproductive anomalies of marine nematode symbionts
Sponge symbioses
Fiat lux: the squid-Vibrio symbiosis