Susceptibility of Caribbean Brain Coral Recruits to Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD)

Williamson, Olivia M.; Dennison, Caroline E.; O’Neil, Keri L.; Baker, Andrew C.

doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.821165

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 100 publications

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“…While the prevalence of chimerism in wild Acropora hyacinthus is only 3% (Schweinsberg et al, 2015), it is likely that chimerism occurs more frequently in aquarium-bred corals due to limited dispersal and settlement area (Puill-Stephan et al, 2012). Some studies indicate that chimeras may be more resilient to thermal stress (Huffmyer et al, 2021) and disease (Williamson et al, 2022), so their increased prevalence in aquarium populations may be adaptive.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Kinship and genetic variation in aquarium-spawnedAcropora hyacinthuscorals

López-Nandam

Payne

Delbeek

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Recent scientific advances in ex situ system design and operation make it possible to complete gametogenic cycles of broadcast spawning corals. Breeding corals in aquaria are critical advances for population management, particularly genetic rescue and assisted gene flow efforts. Genetic rescue projects for corals are already underway to bring threatened species into ex situ culture and propagation, thereby preserving standing genetic variation. However, while breeding corals is increasingly feasible, the consequences of the aquarium environment on the genetic and phenotypic composition of coral populations is not yet known. The aquarium environment may in itself be a selective pressure on corals, but it also presents relaxed selective pressure in other respects. In 2019 and 2020, gravidAcropora hyacinthuscoral colonies were collected from Palauan reefs and shipped to the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) in San Francisco. In both years, gametes were batch-fertilized to produce larvae that were then settled and reared to recruits. As of April 2021, when they were sampled for sequencing, 23 corals produced at CAS in 2019 and 16 corals produced at CAS in 2020 had survived for two years and one year, respectively. We sequenced the full genomes of the 39 offspring corals and their 15 potential parents to a median 26x depth of coverage. We find clear differential parentage, with some parents producing the vast majority of offspring, while the majority of parents produced no surviving offspring. After scanning 12.9 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we found 887 SNPs that may be under selection in the aquarium environment, and we identified the genes and pathways these SNPs may affect. We present recommendations for preserving standing genetic variation in aquarium-bred corals based on the results of this pilot project.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies indicate that chimeras may be more resilient to thermal stress (Huffmyer et al, 2021) and disease (Williamson et al, 2022), so their increased prevalence in aquarium populations may be adaptive.…”

Section: Parentage Of Aquarium-bred Coralsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kinship and genetic variation in aquarium-spawnedAcropora hyacinthuscorals

López-Nandam

Payne

Delbeek

et al. 2022

Preprint

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show abstract

“…(Schweinsberg et al, 2015), it is likely that chimerism occurs more frequently in aquarium-bred corals due to limited dispersal and settlement area (Puill-Stephan et al, 2012). Some studies indicate that chimeras may be more resilient to thermal stress (Huffmyer et al, 2021) and disease (Williamson et al, 2022), so their increased prevalence in aquarium populations may be adaptive.…”

Section: Parentage Of Aquarium-bred Coralsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kinship and genetic variation in aquarium-spawned Acropora hyacinthus corals

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Recent scientific advances in ex situ system design and operation make it possible to complete gametogenic cycles of broadcast spawning corals. Breeding corals in aquaria is a critical advance for population management, particularly genetic rescue and assisted gene flow efforts. Genetic rescue projects for corals are already underway to bring threatened species into ex situ culture and propagation, thereby preserving standing genetic variation. However, while breeding corals is increasingly feasible, the consequences of the aquarium environment on the genetic and phenotypic composition of coral populations is not yet known. The aquarium environment may in itself be a selective pressures on corals, but it also presents relaxed selective pressures in other respects. In 2019 and 2020, gravid Acropora hyacinthus coral colonies were collected from Palauan reefs and shipped to the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) in San Francisco. In both years, gametes were batch-fertilized to produce larvae that were then settled and reared to recruits. As of April 2021, when they were sampled for sequencing, 23 corals produced at CAS in 2019 and 16 corals produced at CAS in 2020 had survived for two years and one year, respectively. We sequenced the full genomes of the 39 offspring corals and their 15 potential parents to a median 26x depth of coverage. We find clear differential parentage, with some parents producing the vast majority of offspring, while the majority of parents produced no surviving offspring. After scanning 12.9 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we found 887 SNPs that may be under selection in the aquarium environment, and we identified the genes and pathways these SNPs may affect. We present recommendations for preserving standing genetic variation in aquarium-bred corals based on the results of this pilot project.

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“…Coral species with relatively slower population turnover rates exhibit higher levels of disease (Yakob and Mumby, 2011), hinting that species with a higher individual replacement rate may be less susceptible to disease. Concurrently, some coral populations appear more resistant to disease (Mydlarz et al, 2010), potentially due to differences in coral species assemblages, life histories, and environments (e.g., González-Barrios et al, 2021;Williams et al, 2021;Williamson et al, 2022). Therefore, there are likely to be regional differences in coral populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of rising temperatures on the prevalence of coral diseases and its predictability: a global meta-analysis

Burke¹,

Pottier²,

Lagisz³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Coral reefs are under threat from disease as climate change alters environmental conditions. Rising temperatures exacerbate coral disease, but this relationship is likely complex as other factors also influence coral disease prevalence. To better understand this relationship, we meta-analytically examined 108 studies for changes in global coral disease over time alongside temperature, expressed using average summer sea surface temperature (SST) and cumulative heat stress as weekly sea surface temperature anomalies (WSSTAs). We found both rising average summer SST and WSSTA were associated with global increases in the mean and variability in coral disease prevalence. We showed global coral disease prevalence reached 9.92% compared to 3.16% in 1992, and the effect of ‘year’ became more stable (i.e., has lower variance), contrasting to the effects of the two temperature stressors. Regional patterns diverged over time and differed in response to average summer SST. Our model predicted that, under the same trajectory, 76.8% of corals would be diseased globally by 2100, even assuming moderate average summer SST and WSSTA. These results highlight the need for urgent action to mitigate coral disease. Mitigating the impact of rising ocean temperatures on coral disease alone is a complex challenge requiring global discussion and further study.

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Susceptibility of Caribbean Brain Coral Recruits to Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD)

Cited by 14 publications

References 100 publications

Kinship and genetic variation in aquarium-spawnedAcropora hyacinthuscorals

Kinship and genetic variation in aquarium-spawnedAcropora hyacinthuscorals

Kinship and genetic variation in aquarium-spawned Acropora hyacinthus corals

The impact of rising temperatures on the prevalence of coral diseases and its predictability: a global meta-analysis

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