Vasopressin (VP)-like immunoreactivity has long been known in the hydra nervous system, but has not yet been structurally identified. In this study, using HPLC fractionation and an immunological assay, we have purified two peptides, FPQSFLPRGamide and SFLPRGamide, from Hydra magnipapillata. Both the peptides shared the same C-terminal structure, -PRGamide, with Arg-VP. The nonapeptide proved to...

We introduce a new graph parameter, the hydra number, arising from the minimization problem for Horn formulas in propositional logic. The hydra number of a graph G = (V, E) is the minimal number of hyperarcs of the form u, v → w required in a directed hypergraph H = (V, F ), such that for every pair (u, v), the set of vertices reachable in H from {u, v} is the entire vertex set V if (u, v) ∈ E,...

Complete sexual development is not easily amenable to experimentation in hydra. Therefore, the analysis of gene function and gene regulation requires the introduction of exogenous DNA in a large number of cells of the hydra polyps and the significant expression of reporter constructs in these cells. We present here the procedure whereby we coupled DNA injection into the gastric cavity to electr...

Genome sequencing has revealed examples of horizontally transferred genes, but we still know little about how such genes are incorporated into their host genomes. We have previously reported the identification of a gene (flp) that appears to have entered the Hydra genome through horizontal transfer. Here we provide additional evidence in support of our original hypothesis that the transfer was ...

Apoptosis plays an important role in immunity and is widely used to eliminate foreign or infected cells. Cnidaria are the most basal eumetazoans and have no specialised immune cells, but some colonial cnidarians possess a genetic system to discriminate between self and non-self. By grafting epithelia of different species we have previously shown that the freshwater polyp Hydra eliminates non-se...

PIWI proteins and their bound PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are found in animal germlines and are essential for fertility, but their functions outside of the gonad are not well understood. The cnidarian Hydra is a simple metazoan with well-characterized stem/progenitor cells that provides a unique model for analysis of PIWI function. Here we report that Hydra has two PIWI proteins, Hydra PIWI ...

L. Kirby and J. Paris introduced the Hercules and Hydra game on rooted trees as a natural example of an undecidable statement in Peano Arithmetic. One can show that Hercules has a “short” strategy (he wins in a primitively recursive number of moves) and also a “long” strategy (the finiteness of the game cannot be proved in Peano Arithmetic). We investigate the conflict of the “short” and “long”...

An aposymbiotic strain of Hydra viridis became infected with free-living Chlorella sp. A stable symbiosis formed that differed in its characteristics from other known Chlorella/Hydra symbioses. The algae reproduced and formed clusters in host endodermal cells, inside large vacuoles filled with an electron-dense substance. A few algae were found to be digested by the hydra, but the apparently un...

Interstitial cell (I-cell) migration in hydra is essential for establishment of the regional cell differentiation pattern in the organism. All previous in vivo studies have indicated that cell migration in hydra is a result of cell-cell interactions and chemotaxic gradients. Recently, in vitro cell adhesion studies indicated that isolated nematocytes could bind to substrata coated with isolated...