Higher stress and immunity responses are associated with higher mortality in reef-building coral exposed to a bacterial challenge

Wright, Rachel M.; Kenkel, Carly D.; Dunn, Carly E.; Shilling, Erin N.; Bay, Line K.; Matz, Mikhail V.

doi:10.1101/059444

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 76 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Spat and juveniles hosted an increased relative abundance of Rhizobiales, and juveniles hosted a higher relative abundance of Simkaniaceae. Members of the genus Simkaniaceae are among the most common bacterial taxa associated with both corals (Bayer et al, 2013; Ogawa, 2014; Wright et al, 2016) and octocorals (van de Water et al, 2018), however, their functional role is unknown. Rhizobiales are nitrogen fixing bacteria frequently reported in early life stages of corals (Sharp et al, 2012; Lema et al, 2014) and may be specifically associated with Symbiodiniaceae (Olson et al, 2009; Ainsworth et al, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Establishment of Coral-Bacteria Symbioses Reveal Changes in the Core Bacterial Community With Host Ontogeny

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bacterial communities are fundamental symbionts of corals. However, the process by which bacterial communities are acquired across the life history of corals, particularly in larval and early juvenile stages, is still poorly characterized. Here, transfer of bacteria of the Scleractinian coral Acropora digitifera from adults to spawned egg-sperm bundles was analyzed, as well as acquisition across early developmental stages (larvae and newly settled spat), and 6-month-old juveniles. Larvae were reared under manipulated environmental conditions to determine the source (maternal, seawater, or sediment) of bacteria likely to establish symbiotic relationships with the host using amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Maternal colonies directly transferred bacteria from the families Rhodobacteraceae, Cryomorphaceae, and Endozoicimonaceae to egg-sperm bundles. Furthermore, significant differences in the microbial community structure were identified across generations, yet the structure of the coral bacterial community across early life history stages was not impacted by different environmental rearing conditions. These data indicate that the uptake and structure of bacterial communities is developmentally, rather than environmentally, regulated. Both maternal coral colonies and ubiquitous bacteria found across environmental substrates represent a potential source of symbionts important in establishing the coral microbiome. Uniquely, we report the presence of variation with ontogeny of both the core and resident bacterial communities, supporting the hypothesis that microbial communities are likely to play specific roles within the distinct life history stages of the coral host.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Establishment of Coral-Bacteria Symbioses Reveal Changes in the Core Bacterial Community With Host Ontogeny

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The immediacy of the coral immune response is characteristic of innate immunity (Palmer et al, 2008(Palmer et al, , 2011c and highlights how easy it is to miss a coral immune peak. Caution should therefore be taken to avoid underestimating or misinterpreting a coral immune response in studies where sampling times are delayed (e.g., van de Water et al, 2015b;Wright et al, 2016).…”

Section: Immune Response Under Ambient Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Warmer Water Affects Immunity of a Tolerant Reef Coral

Palmer

2018

Front. Mar. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Corals are multipartite sedentary organisms, which have evolved complex, physiological networks in order to survive perturbations and environmental fluctuations. However, climate change is warming tropical waters, pushing the limits of coral tolerance and driving global declines. Coral susceptibility to thermal anomalies is variable among species and through time, and directly relates to constituent immunity. Constituent immunity refers to immune activities required to ensure homeostasis, whereas an immune response is acutely heightened immune activity to a perturbation. Understanding the mechanisms behind coral health, and sustained health through adverse conditions, is increasingly important for establishing effective reef conservation and restoration projects. However, most experimental studies of coral health use species that are highly susceptible to thermal events, potentially skewing our understanding. To determine the influence of warmer water on immunity, activities of key coral immune pathways and an antioxidant were compared under ambient (27 • C) and warmer water (32 • C), and between injured and uninjured (control) branches of the tolerant reef coral Porites cylindrica. Three types of phenoloxidase, mono-phenoloxidase, ortho-diphenoloxidase and para-diphenloxidase, indicative of two melanin synthesis pathways (the tyrosinase and laccase-type), and peroxidase were measured at 0 (control), 1, 6, 24, 48, and 168 h post-injury. All four enzymes demonstrated consistent levels of activity under ambient conditions (27 • C), indicating constituent immunity. Upon injury at ambient temperature, all enzyme activities were significantly higher 1 h post-injury as compared to uninjured controls, demonstrating a comprehensive immune response to tissue disruption. Under warmer water, constituent immunity increased through time indicative of immune modulation to maintain homeostasis. However, warmer water, within the non-bleaching summer range, suppressed the immune response to injury, delaying it by 24 h. Therefore, upon the environmental cue of warmer water, the tolerant coral P. cylindrica may divert resources away from immune responses (immunosuppression) while enhancing constituent immunity (immune modulation) so as to maintain health through sub-optimal conditions. These changes in immunity with warmer water demonstrate that temperature affects coral immunity and, for this tolerant coral, triggers immune-modulation that may provide cross-tolerance to perturbations more frequent in summer months, such as bleaching and disease.

show abstract

“…Given the absence of organs in Cnidaria, it is likely that these glycoproteins serve a role in innate immunity and agglutination of other proteins in the ECM of the pedal disc. DMBT1 was found to be upregulated in the corals Acropora millepora and Orbicella faveolata in response to bacterial challenge [104].…”

Section: Upregulation Of Specific Genes In the Pedal Discmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcriptional characterisation of the Exaiptasia pallida pedal disc

Davey

Clarke

Rodrigues

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Biological adhesion (bioadhesion), enables organisms to attach to surfaces as well as to a range of other targets. Bioadhesion evolved numerous times independently and is ubiquitous throughout the kingdoms of life. To date, investigations have focussed on various taxa of animals, plants and bacteria, but the fundamental processes underlying bioadhesion and the degree of conservation in different biological systems remain poorly understood. This study had two aims: 1) To characterise tissue-specific gene regulation in the pedal disc of the model cnidarian Exaiptasia pallida, and 2) to elucidate putative genes involved in pedal disc adhesion. Results Five hundred and forty-seven genes were differentially expressed in the pedal disc compared to the rest of the animal. Four hundred and twenty-seven genes were significantly upregulated and one hundred and twenty genes were significantly downregulated. Forty-one condensed gene ontology terms and 19 protein superfamily classifications were enriched in the pedal disc. Eight condensed gene ontology terms and 11 protein superfamily classifications were depleted. Enriched superfamilies were consistent with classifications identified previously as important for the bioadhesion of unrelated marine invertebrates. A host of genes involved in regulation of extra cellular matrix generation and degradation were identified, as well as others related to development and immunity. Ab initio prediction identified 173 upregulated genes that putatively code for extracellularly secreted proteins. Conclusion The analytical workflow facilitated identification of genes putatively involved in adhesion, immunity, defence and development of the E. pallida pedal disc. When defence, immunity and development-related genes were identified, those remaining corresponded most closely to formation of the extracellular matrix (ECM), implicating ECM in the adhesion of anemones to surfaces. This study therefore provides a valuable high-throughput resource for the bioadhesion community and lays a foundation for further targeted research to elucidate bioadhesion in the Cnidaria.

show abstract

Higher stress and immunity responses are associated with higher mortality in reef-building coral exposed to a bacterial challenge

Cited by 5 publications

References 76 publications

Establishment of Coral-Bacteria Symbioses Reveal Changes in the Core Bacterial Community With Host Ontogeny

Establishment of Coral-Bacteria Symbioses Reveal Changes in the Core Bacterial Community With Host Ontogeny

Warmer Water Affects Immunity of a Tolerant Reef Coral

Transcriptional characterisation of the Exaiptasia pallida pedal disc

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About