Response of two species of Indo-Pacific corals, Porites cylindrica and Stylophora pistillata, to short-term thermal stress: The host does matter in determining the tolerance of corals to bleaching

Fitt, William K.; Gates, Ruth D.; Høegh-Guldberg, Ove; Bythell, John C.; Jatkar, Amita A.; Grottoli, Andréa G.; Gómez, Manuel; Fisher, Paul L.; Lajuenesse, T.C.; Pantos, Olga; Iglesias-Prieto, Roberto; Franklin, Daniel J.; Rodrigues, Lisa J.; Torregiani, J.M.; Woesik, Robert van; Lesser, Michael P.

doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2009.03.011

Cited by 224 publications

(201 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Further work is needed to fill in these gaps in our knowledge. While we cannot entirely discount symbiont-derived ROS as a stimulus for the host responses observed here, our data support a growing body of work suggesting that host-level mechanisms play an important role in determining the bleaching responses of corals (Nii and Muscatine 1997;Fitt et al 2009;Palmer et al 2010;Dunn et al 2012;Paxton et al 2013;Tolleter et al 2013). …”

Section: Cellular Events In the Coral Hostsupporting

confidence: 71%

“…The differential bleaching susceptibility of reef corals is an emergent property of the genotypic composition of the resident Symbiodinium population (Rowan et al 1997;Sampayo et al 2008), previous thermal history (Guest et al 2012) and physiological and life-history characteristics of the host (Baird et al 2008 for review;Fitt et al 2009;Palmer et al 2010;Putnam et al 2012). The latter in particular is becoming recognised as important in determining bleaching susceptibility; corals that associate with multiple Symbiodinium genotypes and acquire these symbionts from the environment are more sensitive to environmental stress than are species with maternal symbiont transmission and high symbiotic specificity .…”

Section: Communicated By Biology Editor Dr Anastazia Banaszakmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differential nitric oxide synthesis and host apoptotic events correlate with bleaching susceptibility in reef corals

et al. 2014

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Coral bleaching poses a threat to coral reefs worldwide. As a consequence of the temperature-induced breakdown in coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis, bleaching can have extensive effects on reef communities. However, our understanding of bleaching at a cellular level is limited, and this is particularly true regarding differential susceptibility among coral species. Recent work suggests that bleaching may represent a host innate immune-like response to symbiont dysfunction that involves synthesis of the signalling compound nitric oxide (NO) and the induction of host apoptotic-like cell death. In this study, we examined the activity of apoptosis-regulating enzymes alongside oxidised NO accumulation (a proxy for NO synthesis) in the reef corals Acropora millepora, Montipora digitata, and Pocillopora damicornis during experimental thermal stress. P. damicornis was the most sensitive species, suffering mortality (tissue sloughing) after 5 days at 33°C but non-lethal bleaching after 9 days at 31.5°C. A. millepora bleached at 33°C but remained structurally intact, while M. digitata showed little evidence of bleaching. P. damicornis and A. millepora both exhibited evidence of temperature-induced NO synthesis and, after 5 days of heating, levels of oxidised NO in both species were fivefold higher than in controls maintained at 28.5°C. These responses preceded bleaching by a number of days and may have occurred before symbiont dysfunction (measured as chlorophyll a degradation and oxidised NO accumulation). In A. millepora, apparent NO synthesis correlated with the induction of host apoptotic-like pathways, while in P. damicornis, the upregulation of apoptotic pathways occurred later. No evidence of elevated NO production or apoptosis was observed in M. digitata at 33°C and baseline activity of apoptosis-regulating enzymes was negligible in this species. These findings provide important physiological data in the context of the responses of corals to global change and suggest that early events in the host may be important in the collapse of the coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis.

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Section: Cellular Events In the Coral Hostsupporting

confidence: 71%

Section: Communicated By Biology Editor Dr Anastazia Banaszakmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential nitric oxide synthesis and host apoptotic events correlate with bleaching susceptibility in reef corals

et al. 2014

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“…For example, massive Porites colonies associate with Symbiodinium C15 from depths of 1-17 m across the GBR, and in corals collected in Japan [77], Johnston Atoll [11] and American Samoa [32]. Massive Porites is exemplified by a greater stability and persistence over time and under stressful conditions [32,57,61,76], traits attributed to slow growth [57], thick tissues/high tissue biomass [61,63] and thermally tolerant Symbiodinium C15 [78,79]. Characteristics of specifist corals such as Porites include symbiosis with endosymbionts such as Symbiodinium C15, which is commonly transmitted vertically across generations in the host [56], a mechanism that promotes coevolution and integration with the host, and is one of the most highly derived members of the most derived clade C [9,80].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endosymbiotic flexibility associates with environmental sensitivity in scleractinian corals

et al. 2012

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Flexibility in biological systems is seen as an important driver of macro-ecosystem function and stability. Spatially constrained endosymbiotic settings, however, are less studied, although environmental thresholds of symbiotic corals are linked to the function of their endosymbiotic dinoflagellate communities. Symbiotic flexibility is a hypothesized mechanism that corals may exploit to adapt to climate change. This study explores the flexibility of the coral-Symbiodinium symbiosis through quantification of Symbiodinium ITS2 sequence assemblages in a range of coral species and genera. Sequence assemblages are expressed as an index of flexibility incorporating phylogenetic divergence and relative abundance of Symbiodinium sequences recovered from the host. This comparative analysis reveals profound differences in the flexibility of corals for Symbiodinium, thereby classifying corals as generalists or specifists. Generalists such as Acropora and Pocillopora exhibit high intra-and inter-species flexibility in their Symbiodinium assemblages and are some of the most environmentally sensitive corals. Conversely, specifists such as massive Porites colonies exhibit low flexibility, harbour taxonomically narrow Symbiodinium assemblages, and are environmentally resistant corals. Collectively, these findings challenge the paradigm that symbiotic flexibility enhances holobiont resilience. This underscores the need for a deeper examination of the extent and duration of the functional benefits associated with endosymbiotic diversity and flexibility under environmental stress.

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“…1). However, the relative importance of different symbionts to the holobiont's resilience is difficult to assess due to complex interactions and trade-offs (Fitt et al, 2001;Abrego et al, 2008;Fitt et al, 2009;Jones and Berkelmans, 2010). Moreover, while some intracellular sites and effects of thermal damage in the host and symbiont have been identified, there is no consensus about the causal chain of events and the supposed 'weak link' in the symbiosis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential coral bleaching—Contrasting the activity and response of enzymatic antioxidants in symbiotic partners under thermal stress

Krueger

Hawkins

Becker

et al. 2015

Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular &

118

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Mass coral bleaching due to thermal stress represents a major threat to the integrity and functioning of coral reefs. Thermal thresholds vary, however, between corals, partly as a result of the specific type of endosymbiotic dinoflagellate (Symbiodinium sp.) they harbour. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in corals under thermal and light stress has been recognised as one mechanism that can lead to cellular damage and the loss of their symbiont population (Oxidative Theory of Coral Bleaching). Here, we compared the response of symbiont and host enzymatic antioxidants in the coral species Acropora millepora and Montipora digitata at 28°C and 33°C. A. millepora at 33°C showed a decrease in photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (PSII) and increase in maximum midday excitation pressure on PSII, with subsequent bleaching (declining photosynthetic pigment and symbiont density). M. digitata exhibited no bleaching response and photochemical changes in its symbionts were minor. The symbiont antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase, and catalase peroxidase showed no significant upregulation to elevated temperatures in either coral, while only catalase was significantly elevated in both coral hosts at 33°C. Increased host catalase activity in the susceptible coral after 5 days at 33°C was independent of antioxidant responses in the symbiont and preceded significant declines in PSII photochemical efficiencies. This finding suggests a potential decoupling of host redox mechanisms from symbiont photophysiology and raises questions about the importance of symbiont-derived ROS in initiating coral bleaching.

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Response of two species of Indo-Pacific corals, Porites cylindrica and Stylophora pistillata, to short-term thermal stress: The host does matter in determining the tolerance of corals to bleaching

Cited by 224 publications

References 55 publications

Differential nitric oxide synthesis and host apoptotic events correlate with bleaching susceptibility in reef corals

Differential nitric oxide synthesis and host apoptotic events correlate with bleaching susceptibility in reef corals

Endosymbiotic flexibility associates with environmental sensitivity in scleractinian corals

Differential coral bleaching—Contrasting the activity and response of enzymatic antioxidants in symbiotic partners under thermal stress

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