Evidence for transporter-mediated uptake of environmental l-glutamate in a freshwater sponge, Ephydatia muelleri

The freshwater sponge, Ephydatia muelleri, lacks a nervous or endocrine system and yet it exhibits a coordinated whole-body action known as a “sneeze” that can be triggered by exposure to l-glutamate. It is not known how l-glutamate is obtained by E. muelleri in sufficient quantities (i.e., 70 µM) to mediate this response endogenously. The present study tested the hypothesis that l-glutamate can be directly acquired from the environment across the body surface of E. muelleri. We demonstrate carrier mediated uptake of two distinct saturable systems with maximal transport rates (Jmax) of 64.27 ± 4.98 and 25.12 ± 1.87 pmols mg−1 min−1, respectively. The latter system has a higher calculated substrate affinity (Km) of 2.87 ± 0.38 µM compared to the former (8.75 ± 1.00 µM), indicative of distinct systems that can acquire l-glutamate at variable environmental concentrations. Further characterization revealed potential shared pathways of l-glutamate uptake with other negatively charged amino acids, namely d-glutamate and l-aspartate, as well as the neutral amino acid L-alanine. We demonstrate that l-glutamate uptake does not appear to rely on exogenous sodium or proton concentrations as removal of these ions from the bathing media did not significantly alter uptake. Likewise, l-glutamate uptake does not seem to rely on internal proton motive forces driven by VHA as application of 100 nM of the VHA inhibitor bafilomycin did not alter uptake rates within E. muelleri tissues. Whether the acquired amino acid is used to supplement feeding or is stored and accumulated to mediate the sneeze response remains to be determined.