Interactive effects of microplastic pollution and heat stress on reef-building corals

Reichert, Jessica; Tirpitz, Vanessa; Anand, Rajshree; Bach, Katharina; Knopp, Jonas; Schubert, Patrick; Wilke, Thomas; Ziegler, Maren

doi:10.1101/2021.07.30.454458

Cited by 6 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…In fact, overall gene expression profiles were indistinguishable between the ambient and microplastics treatments, and an effect of microplastics was only apparent when looking at the expression of top 1,000 genes. This result corroborates previous work reporting negligible effects of microplastics on coral physiology, bleaching susceptibility, and mortality (Reichert et al, 2021; Plafcan and Stallings, 2022) and supports the hypothesis that corals that rely more heavily on heterotrophy may be more impacted by this stressor.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Of the work to date examining global change stressors and microplastics, results are variable and species dependent (Axworthy and Padilla-Gamiño, 2019; Huang et al, 2021). For example, recent work found that warming led to consistent reductions in fitness-related traits in corals, while microplastics resulted in mixed responses (Reichert et al, 2021). Similarly, another study found that microplastics had no effect on Symbiodiniaceae cell density under ambient or elevated temperatures (Plafcan and Stallings, 2022), suggesting that microplastics may represent a minor stressor when compared to warming.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exposure to global change and microplastics elicits an immune response in an endangered coral

Bove

Greene

Sugierski

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Global change is increasing seawater temperatures and decreasing oceanic pH, driving declines of coral reefs globally. Coral ecosystems are also impacted by local stressors, including microplastics, which are ubiquitous on reefs. While the independent effects of these global and local stressors are well-documented, their interactions remain less explored. Here, we examine the independent and combined effects of global change (ocean warming and acidification) and microplastics exposures on gene expression (GE) and microbial community composition in the endangered coral Acropora cervicornis. Nine genotypes were fragmented and maintained in one of four experimental treatments: 1) ambient conditions (ambient seawater, no microplastics; AMB); 2) microplastics treatment (ambient seawater, microplastics; MP); 3) global change conditions (warm and acidic conditions, no microplastics; OAW); and 4) multistressor treatment (warm and acidic conditions with microplastics; OAW+MP) for 22 days, after which corals were sampled for genome-wide GE profiling and ITS and 16S metabarcoding. Overall A. cervicornis GE responses to all treatments were subtle; however, corals in the multistressor treatment exhibited the strongest GE responses, and genes associated with innate immunity were overrepresented in this treatment, according to gene ontology enrichment analyses. 16S analyses revealed stable microbiomes dominated by the bacterial associate Aquarickettsia, suggesting that these A. cervicornis fragments exhibited remarkably low variability in bacterial community composition. Future work should focus on functional differences across microbiomes, especially Aquarickettsia and viruses, in these responses. Overall, results suggest that local stressors present a unique challenge to endangered coral species under global change.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure to global change and microplastics elicits an immune response in an endangered coral

Bove

Greene

Sugierski

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In fact, overall gene expression profiles were indistinguishable between the ambient and microplastics treatments, and an effect of microplastics was only apparent when looking at the expression of top 1,000 genes. This result corroborates previous work reporting negligible effects of microplastics on coral physiology, bleaching susceptibility, and mortality (Reichert et al, 2021;Plafcan and Stallings, 2022) and supports the hypothesis that corals that rely more heavily on heterotrophy may be more impacted by microplastic pollution.…”

Section: Microplastics Alone Do Not Drive Strong Gene Expression Resp...supporting

confidence: 91%

“…Of the work to date examining global change stressors and microplastics, results are variable and species dependent (Axworthy and Padilla-Gamiño, 2019;Huang et al, 2021). For example, recent work found that warming led to consistent reductions in fitness-related traits in corals, while microplastics resulted in mixed responses (Reichert et al, 2021). Similarly, another study found that microplastics had no effect on Symbiodiniaceae cell density under ambient or elevated temperatures (Plafcan and Stallings, 2022), suggesting that microplastics may represent a minor stressor when compared to warming.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure to global change and microplastics elicits an immune response in an endangered coral

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Global change is increasing seawater temperatures and decreasing oceanic pH, driving declines of coral reefs globally. Coral ecosystems are also impacted by local stressors, including microplastics, which are ubiquitous on reefs. While the independent effects of these global and local stressors are well-documented, their interactions remain less explored. Here, we examine the independent and combined effects of global change (ocean warming and acidification) and microplastics exposures on gene expression (GE) and microbial community composition in the endangered coral Acropora cervicornis. Nine genotypes were fragmented and maintained in one of four experimental treatments: 1) ambient conditions (ambient seawater, no microplastics; AMB); 2) microplastics treatment (ambient seawater, microplastics; MP); 3) global change conditions (warm and acidic conditions, no microplastics; OAW); and 4) multistressor treatment (warm and acidic conditions with microplastics; OAW+MP) for 22 days, after which corals were sampled for genome-wide GE profiling and ITS2 and 16S metabarcoding. Overall A. cervicornis GE responses to all treatments were subtle; however, corals in the multistressor treatment exhibited the strongest GE responses, and genes associated with innate immunity were overrepresented in this treatment. ITS2 analyses confirmed that all coral were associated with Symbiodinium ‘fitti’ and 16S analyses revealed similar microbiomes dominated by the bacterial associate Aquarickettsia, suggesting that these A. cervicornis fragments exhibited remarkably low variability in algal and bacterial community compositions. Future work should focus on functional differences across microbiomes, especially Aquarickettsia and viruses, in these responses. Overall, results suggest that when local stressors are coupled with global change, these interacting stressors present unique challenges to this endangered coral species.

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“…Corals are under threat due to ocean warming, pollution, and acidification (Hoegh-Guldberg et al, 2007;Reichert et al, 2021). The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report suggests an increase of at least 1.5°C which will further affect corals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights on the biochemical and cellular changes induced by heat stress in the Cladocopium isolated from coral Mussismilia braziliensis

et al. 2022

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Corals are treatened by global warming. Bleaching is one immediate effect of global warming, resulting from the loss of photosynthetic endosymbiont dinoflagellates. Understanding host-symbiont associations are critical for assessing coral’s habitat requirements and its response to environmental changes. Cladocopium (formerly family Symbiodiniaceae clade C) are dominant endosymbionts in the reef-building coral, Mussismilia braziliensis. This study aimed to investigate the effect of temperature on the biochemical and cellular features of Cladocopium. Heat stress increased oxygen (O2) and decreased proteins, pigments (Chla + Chlc2), hexadecanoic acid- methyl ester, methyl stearate, and octadecenoic acid (Z)- methyl ester molecules. In addition, there was an increase in neutral lipids such as esterified cholesterol and a decrease in free fatty acids that may have been incorporated for the production of lipid droplets. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) demonstrated that Cladocopium cells subjected to heat stress had thinner cell walls, deformation of chloroplasts, and increased lipid droplets after 3 days at 28°C. These findings indicate that thermal stress negatively affects isolated Cladocopium spp. from Mussismilia host coral.

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Interactive effects of microplastic pollution and heat stress on reef-building corals

Cited by 6 publications

References 68 publications

Exposure to global change and microplastics elicits an immune response in an endangered coral

Exposure to global change and microplastics elicits an immune response in an endangered coral

Exposure to global change and microplastics elicits an immune response in an endangered coral

Insights on the biochemical and cellular changes induced by heat stress in the Cladocopium isolated from coral Mussismilia braziliensis

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