Ultraviolet Radiation Significantly Enhances the Molecular Response to Dispersant and Sweet Crude Oil Exposure in Nematostella vectensis. Nematostella vectensis

Using RNA-seq, we assessed global changes in gene expression in Nematostella vectensisi in response to dispersant and/or sweet crude oil exposure alone or combined with ultraviolet radiation (UV). We hypothesized that sweet crude oil exposure would result in up-regulation of genes associated with xenobiotic metabolism and antioxidant defenses, and that co-exposure to dispersant and/or UV radiation would result in larger numbers of differentially expressed genes. To gain mechanistic insight into both novel and conserved molecular responses, we conducted a gene-ontology (GO) enrichment analysis to identify regulated processes in an unbiased manner and also explicitly examined differential responses of genes with known or predicted roles in the stress response. Since Nematostella, as a cnidarian, belongs to a sister group to the Bilateria, characterization of these responses may also provide a way to root studies in bilaterian organisms (e.g., fish, oyster, shrimp) to assess conserved and divergent responses between vertebrates and invertebrates.