Conflict resolution within the organism: the role of the Immune System
The immune system of animals is constituted by a large diversity of cells and molecules that collectively recognize, neutralize, and eliminate potential damaging agents, both biotic and abiotic. The study of the immune system has been traditionally biased towards some species with medical or economic importance, at the expense of the vast majority of species that constitute the animal diversity. With the current possibility of easily sequencing genomes and transcriptomes, there is an opportunity to study the immune systems of a wide variety of animal groups. One of these groups is the cnidarians, which include corals, anemones and jellyfishes, in which the study of the immune system has proved useful to understand two types of conflicts that are relevant for the survival of these organisms. The first one is the response of corals to diseases of infectious nature and the second relates to histocompatibility reactions, which mediate intraspecific competitions for habitable space. This article details the role of the cnidarian immune system to mediate the resolution of these two conflicts.
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| Format: | Digital revista |
| Language: | spa |
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Universidad Nacional de Colombia - Sede Bogotá - Facultad de Ciencias - Departamento de Biología
2016
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| Online Access: | https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/actabiol/article/view/50973 |
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