of neds, squids, vibrios, and a hubert
February 27th, 2008 by Lawrence David
meet hubert, my octopus. he came to visit last week while i waited for some particularly long modeling jobs to execute on the darwin computing cluster (more on that later).
hubert’s timing couldn’t have been better, as his visit coincided with ned ruby‘s to mit.   here’s a picture of ned:
ned is a microbiologist from wisconsin who studies the symbiosis between the doe-eyed 3cm-long cephalopods above and a bacterium named vibrio fischeri. the talk ned gave on that symbiosis was fascinating — it was filled with precisely the kinds of wondrous stories and unbelievable facts about the natural world that convince naive students to forego the median tax bracket and become phd candidates.
he began, as microbiology talks often do, by explaining why folks shold care about microbes. in particular, he highlighted the applications of studying microbial symbioses. to paraphrase:
there are roughly 10 bacterial cells in the human body for every 1 human cell. folks estimate that each person harbors around 25,000 unique bacterial species. the human genome consists of roughly 20,000 genes; the microbial pan-genome within us consists of approximately 3,000,000.
this begs the questions: how are 3,000,000 genes simultaneously regulated in the human body? how are millions of unique metabolites and enzymes produced, transported, and employed in any coherent way?
tackling a symbiosis problem on that scale would be like trying to build a model of how individual cars affect the american nation. so, ned decided to simplify the problem. the squid he studies, euprymna scolopes (they look remarkably like ned above), enjoy the unique ability to selectively screen which bacterial species colonize certain regions of its body. specifically, the squid possesses an organ on its belly that only vibrio fischeri can live in.
and here’s where things get amazing. it turns out that the squid are nocturnal and feed near the ocean’s surface. this makes them easy prey; predators in deeper waters can easily find the squid by looking upwards and pouncing on the shadows in the moonlight. in response, the euprymna have evolved an ingenious trait known as counter-illumination. while they swim at night, the euprymna’s vibrio-filled organ glows, thereby camouflaging their shadows in the moonlight. by manipulating various muscles in the light organ that act as lenses, shutters, and filters, the squid can even control the intensity and dispersion of its anti-shadow.
how and why the vibrio bioluminesce is its own fascinating question in of itself that has already bestowed doctorates and macarthur fellowships on several researchers.
what ned talked about was studying how the euprymna and vibrio have evolved to interact with one another. now, it took him an hour to explain what he’s learned over the past decade and i haven’t got the blogging fortitude to transcribe thirty slides worth of information. besides, my memory has got the fidelity of a game of telephone. so here’s the most salient points from the presentation:
- the euprymna are actually born aseptic. within hours of being born, however, a handful of vibrio fischeri will colonize the light organ.
- over the course of the day, the vibrio make like calculators and rapidly multiply, eventually filling the light organ to capacity.
- after the evening feeding session, the euprymna contract the muscle surrounding the light organ and expel virtually all of the vibrio.
“huh?” i thought, as i heard that last bullet. why kick out beneficial bacteria?
no one’s totally certain, but a leading hypothesis is that the bacteria are actually driving the expulsion! the vibrio, perhaps not unlike pathogenic strains of e. coli, release toxins that likely degrade the membranes of the light organ, ultimately compelling the euprymna to eject the vibrio. and by getting the heave-ho, millions of vibrio are re-introduced into the water column, ready to populate new infant euprymna.
this ending to the fairy tale blew me away. on the one hand, you’ve got a bug that’s basically like cholera: it desperately wants to spread and effects that transmission by irritating mucosal membranes until the point of host expulsion. but, unlike human-affecting cholera, these vibrio are profoundly beneficial to their host in some ways, thereby providing enough incentive for the euprymna to not evolve a comprehensive mechanism for complete vibrio fischeri clearance. just a wicked cool example of how an apparently mutually beneficial symbiosis in nature can actually be a struggle between two completely opposing forces.
oh and two sidenotes:
-  ned ruby raises something like 10^5 euprymna a year in aquaria in his lab. i was dying to ask him how they tasted.
- in case you were wondering, poor hubert the hand-octopus was indeed sick with smallpox. he passed only a day after his photo was taken.
fascinating indeed! And I love to eat squiddies!
I guess intuitively it makes sense, only those bacteria which forced the host to eject them were able to spread out enough to survive, and only those squid that had the light emitting bacteria were able to survive long enough to eject the bacteria.
I think this is a good model for how I write code =P.
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By Devik Jain
June 22 (Reuters) – S&P futures held about 1% below record highs on Tuesday as investors looked to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks for clues on how the central bank is balancing inflation risk with its promise to ensure a full jobs market recovery.
In his prepared remarks released late Monday afternoon, Powell said inflation has “increased notably in recent months” but regarded the recent jump, in fact, as likely to fade.
The Fed chief is due to speak before Congress at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT).
The Dow jumped more than 500 points on Monday following last week’s selloff, as the Fed’s hawkish tone triggered a sharp profit booking on the companies expected to benefit the most from a U.S.
economic revival and a move into tech-heavy growth names.
“Powell will repeat that inflation is transitory and will drop back ‘as these transitory supply effects abate’,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.
“How much time do we have before the supply effects abate is a big question.”
However, in a broad-based rally on Monday, the Dow logged its best day since early March as market participants piled back into energy, financials and industrial stocks.
At 6:31 a.m.
ET, Dow e-minis were down 3 points, or 0.01%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 1.25 points, or 0.03%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 3.5 points, or 0.02%.
Heavyweights including Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc dipped about 0.5% each.
“Meme stock” Torchlight Energy Resources Inc jumped 10.5% in heavy premarket volume as the company upsized its stock offering after its shares doubled in value last week on interest from individual traders.
Crypto stocks including miners Riot Blockchain, Marathon Patent Group, Ebang International and MicroStrategy Inc fell between 2% and 3% as China’s crackdown on bitcoin mining expanded to the province of Sichuan. (Reporting by Devik Jain and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Ava Cook scored a pair of first-half goals and the Chicago Red Stars defeated Angel City 2-1 in the National Women’s Soccer League on Monday night.
Cook scored on a header in the 16th minute and then added another goal in the 27th for Chicago, which had lost seven straight road games dating back to last season. It was Cook’s first career brace.
Chicago (3-6-1) was coming off a 1-0 victory last weekend over the Orlando Pride, which stopped a three-game losing streak.
The Red Stars have conceded a league-worst 23 goals.
Sydney Leroux, who made her season debut after an ankle injury that required surgery, scored in the 88th minute off a cross from Alyssa Thompson to pull Angel City within a goal.
It was Leroux’s first goal since May 2022 and her 40th career NWSL goal.
Angel City (2-5-3) hasn’t won in four straight matches to fall to 11th in the league standings.
It was the team’s fifth loss at home this season.
___
AP soccer:
Fresh from helping Manchester City win a treble of trophies, Enzo Maresca was hired as manager of on Friday.
The Italian coach was part of Pep Guardiola’s backroom team at City, where he won the English Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup this season.
Maresca was signed to 2026.
“Enzo brings a combination of personality, method and ambition that meets extremely well with the footballing direction we are looking to take,” Leicester chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha said.
“His philosophy has been built over a rich and varied career, including an outstanding education as a coach, and fits with the vision we have for this next chapter in Leicester City´s history.”
Maresca was previously an assistant to Manuel Pellegrini at West Ham and was also coach of Man City´s elite development squad and Italian team Parma.
He became part of Guardiola’s staff in 2022, helping City to the greatest season in its history, including winning the Champions League title last weekend.
He faces a considerable challenge at Leicester, the 2016 champion which is aiming to bounce straight back up to the Premier League after the heartache of relegation.
“At the beginning, the target is to play in the best way we can,” Maresca said.
“From there, we can build, day by day, our idea and our philosophy, and the most important thing is to try to win games.”
Leicester has seen out-of-contract Youri Tielemans leave. The futures of other star players such as James Maddison and Harvey Barnes are uncertain.
Maresca took over from Dean Smith, who was hired for the final eight games after Brendan Rogers was fired.
Smith left along with his coaches Craig Shakespeare and John Terry.
___
James Robson is at ___
More AP soccer:
Anthony Albanese has publicly apologised to his beloved pet cavoodle for his betrayal after making some new four-legged furry friends.
There was no shortage of pats, cuddles, belly rubs and ear scratches when the Prime Minister opened Animal Welfare League NSW’s new adoption centre, in western Sydney, on Thursday.
He was more than happy to dote on the facility’s dogs who lapped up the undivided attention as they patiently wait for rehoming.
Anthony Albanese could be in the doghouse with his cavoodle Toto after he made new friends at Animal Welfare League NSW at Kemps Creek on Thursday
Australia’s First Dog Toto (pictured) has received a public apology from her owner
The self-confessed dog lover also stopped by the cat enclosures to make some new feline pals.
The visit later prompted a remorseful apology from the Prime Minister to Australia’s First Dog Toto.
‘Sorry Toto,’ Mr Albanese captioned a series of photos on Twitter.
‘Made some friends while opening the new Animal Welfare League adoption centre in Sydney today.’
Toto is Mr Albanese’s loyal companion and beloved pet cavoodle who was constantly by her owner’s side during last year’s election campaign and features heavily on his social media.
The adorable pooch splits her time between her owner’s residences at Kirribilli House in Sydney and The Lodge in Canberra when parliament is sitting.
‘Toto has a particularly brand of dog food, it’s the only one she will eat – yes, she’s a princess,’ the Prime Minister told Nova radio station earlier this year.
Mr Albanese also posed for photos with Animal Welfare League team who also star on popular Network 10 series, The Dog House Australia.
Even the cats received some special attention from the dog-loving prime minister
His apology to Toto on Thursday sparked a divisive public reaction.
‘Toto won’t be impressed..LOL,’ one commented.
Another quipped: ‘Toto: ‘It’s OK … I’m also seeing other owners.’
The tweet also sparked anger from Aussies who believed there were more pressing matters to be addressed.
‘God you’re tone deaf.
Where is your housing plan?’ one man fumed.
‘Great to post about dogs as PR fodder but actually need to start doing things now that you’re in office. Things which address structural issues.’
Another added: ‘What about the welfare of people.
The homeless are now at record levels because of your inaction to help middle to lower class people in this country.
‘Skyrocketing Mortgages & rent are forcing people onto the streets. But as long as Toto is happy then its been a good day.’
Making some new four-legged friends was the highlight of Mr Albanese’s day
Toto accompanied her owner during his most recent stay in Canberra last week
This pooch lapped up the Prime Minister’s undivided attention at Animal Welfare League NSW
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