Michael T Connelly

Corals are important models for understanding invertebrate host-microbe interactions; however, to fully discern mechanisms involved in these relationships, experimental approaches for manipulating coral-bacteria associations are needed. Coral-associated bacteria affect holobiont...

Phagocytosis is the cellular defense mechanism used to eliminate antigens derived from dysregulated or damaged cells, and microbial pathogens. Phagocytosis is therefore a pillar of innate immunity, whereby foreign particles...

No abstract available.

Cnidarians are emerging model organisms for cell and molecular biology research. However, successful cell culture development has been challenging due to incomplete tissue dissociation and contamination. In this report, we...

Sampling of different body regions can reveal highly specialized bacterial associations within the holobiont and facilitate identification of core microbial symbionts that would otherwise be overlooked by bulk sampling methods....

The invertebrate innate immune system is surprisingly complex, yet our knowledge is limited to a few select model systems. One understudied group is the phylum Cnidaria (corals, sea anemones, etc.)....

Corals are comprised of a coral host and associated microbes whose interactions are mediated by the coral innate immune system. The diversity of immune factors identified in the Pocillopora damicornis...