The global decline of coral reefs heightens the need to understand how corals respond to changing environmental conditions. Corals are metaorganisms, so-called holobionts, and restructuring of the associated bacterial community has been suggested as a means of holobiont adaptation. However, the potential for restructuring of bacterial communities across coral species in different environments has not been systematically investigated. Here we show that bacterial community structure responds in a coral host-specific manner upon cross-transplantation between reef sites with differing levels of anthropogenic impact. The coral Acropora hemprichii harbors a highly flexible microbiome that differs between each level of anthropogenic impact to which the corals had been transplanted. In contrast, the microbiome of the coral Pocillopora verrucosa remains remarkably stable. Interestingly, upon cross-transplantation to unaffected sites, we find that microbiomes become indistinguishable from back-transplanted controls, suggesting the ability of microbiomes to recover. It remains unclear whether differences to associate with bacteria flexibly reflects different holobiont adaptation mechanisms to respond to environmental change.
Predators drive top-down effects that shape prey communities, but the role of predators in dispersing prey microbiomes is rarely examined. We tested whether coral-eating (corallivorous) fish disperse the single-celled dinoflagellate symbionts (family Symbiodiniaceae) of their prey. Our findings demonstrate that: (1) coral-eating fish egest feces containing live Symbiodiniaceae at densities up to seven orders of magnitude higher than other environmental reservoirs such as sediments and water; (2) Symbiodiniaceae communities in the feces of most corallivores are compositionally similar to those in corals; (3) some obligate corallivore species release over 100 million Symbiodiniaceae cells per 100 m2 per day; and (4) after being egested, corallivore feces often come in direct contact with coral colonies (potential hosts for Symbiodiniaceae). These findings suggest that fish predators can play an important role in symbiont acquisition by corals; such predators may have a previously unrecognized, indirect positive effect on prey health.
Climate change-driven ocean warming is increasing the frequency and severity of bleaching events, in which corals appear whitened after losing their dinoflagellate endosymbionts (family Symbiodiniaceae). Viral infections of Symbiodiniaceae may contribute to some bleaching signs, but little empirical evidence exists to support this hypothesis. We present the first temporal analysis of a lineage of Symbiodiniaceae-infecting positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses ('dinoRNAVs') in coral colonies, which were exposed to a 5-day heat treatment (+2.1°C). A total of 124 dinoRNAV major capsid protein gene 'aminotypes' (unique amino acid sequences) were detected from five colonies of two closely related Pocillopora-Cladocopium (coral-symbiont) combinations in the experiment; most dinoRNAV aminotypes were shared between the two coralsymbiont combinations (64%) and among multiple colonies (82%). Throughout the experiment, seventeen dinoRNAV aminotypes were found only in heat-treated fragments, and 22 aminotypes were detected at higher relative abundances in heat-treated fragments. DinoRNAVs in fragments of some colonies exhibited higher alpha diversity and dispersion under heat stress. Together, these findings provide the first empirical evidence that exposure to high temperatures triggers some dinoRNAVs to switch from a persistent to a productive infection mode within heat-stressed corals.Over extended time frames, we hypothesize that cumulative dinoRNAV production in the Pocillopora-Cladocopium system could affect colony symbiotic status, for example, by decreasing Symbiodiniaceae densities within corals. This study sets the stage for reef-scale investigations of dinoRNAV dynamics during bleaching events.
Climate change-driven ocean warming is increasing the frequency and severity of bleaching events, in which corals appear whitened after losing their dinoflagellate endosymbionts (family Symbiodiniaceae). Viral infections of Symbiodiniaceae may contribute to some bleaching signs, but little empirical evidence exists to support this hypothesis. We present the first temporal analysis of a viral lineage—the Symbiodiniaceae-infecting ‘dinoRNAVs’—in coral colonies exposed to a 5-day heat treatment. Throughout the experiment, all colonies were dominated by Symbiodiniaceae in the genus Cladocopium, but 124 dinoRNAV major capsid protein ‘aminotypes’ (unique amino acid sequences) were detected across coral genets and treatments. Seventeen dinoRNAV aminotypes were found only in heat-treated fragments, and 22 aminotypes were detected at higher relative abundances in heat-treated fragments. DinoRNAVs also exhibited higher alpha diversity and dispersion under heat stress. Together, these findings provide the first empirical evidence that exposure to high temperatures triggers some dinoRNAVs to switch from a persistent to a productive infection mode within heat-stressed corals. Over extended time frames, we hypothesize that cumulative dinoRNAV lysis of Symbiodiniaceae cells during productive infections could decrease Symbiodiniaceae densities within corals, observable as bleaching signs. This study sets the stage for reef-scale investigations of dinoRNAV dynamics during bleaching events.
Many organisms are expanding their ranges in response to changing environmental conditions. Understanding the patterns of genetic diversity and adaptation along an expansion front is crucial to assessing a species' long-term success. While next-generation sequencing techniques can reveal these changes in fine detail, ascribing them to a particular species can be difficult for organisms that live in close association with symbionts. Using a novel modified restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-Seq) protocol to target coral DNA, we collected 595 coral-specific single nucleotide polymorphisms from 189 colonies of the invasive coral Oculina patagonica from the Spanish Mediterranean coast, including established core populations and two expansion fronts. Surprisingly, populations from the recent northern expansion are genetically distinct from the westward expansion and core populations and also harbour greater genetic diversity. We found that temperature may have driven adaptation along the northern expansion, as genome scans for selection found three candidate loci associated with temperature in the north but none in the west. We found no genomic signature of selection associated with artificial substrate, which has been proposed for explaining the rapid spread of O. patagonica. This suggests that this coral is simply an opportunistic colonizer of free space made available by coastal habitat modifications. Our results suggest that unique genetic variation, possibly due to limited dispersal across the Ibiza Channel, an influx of individuals from different depths and/or adaptation to cooler temperatures along the northern expansion front may have facilitated the northward range expansion of O. patagonica in the western Mediterranean.
Zooxanthellate corals are threatened by climate change but may be able to escape increasing temperatures by colonizing higher latitudes. To determine the effect of host range expansion on symbiont genetic diversity, we examined genetic variation among populations of Symbiodinium psygmophilum associated with Oculina patagonica, a range-expanding coral that acquires its symbionts through horizontal transmission. We optimized five microsatellite primer pairs for S. psygmophilum and tested them on Oculina spp. samples from the western North Atlantic and the Mediterranean. We then used them to compare symbiont genotype diversity between an Iberian core and an expansion front population of O. patagonica. Only one multilocus S. psygmophilum genotype was identified at the expansion front, and it was shared with the core population, which harbored seven multilocus genotypes. This pattern suggests that O. patagonica range expansion is accompanied by reduced symbiont genetic diversity, possibly due to limited dispersal of symbionts or local selection.
Terrestrial runoff can negatively impact marine ecosystems through stressors including excess nutrients, freshwater, sediments, and contaminants. Severe storms, which are increasing with global climate change, generate massive inputs of runoff over short timescales (hours to days); such runoff impacted offshore reefs in the northwest Gulf of Mexico (NW GoM) following severe storms in 2016 and 2017. Several weeks after coastal flooding from these events, NW GoM reef corals, sponges, and other benthic invertebrates ∼185 km offshore experienced mortality (2016 only) and/or sub-lethal stress (both years). To assess the impact of storm-derived runoff on reef filter feeders, we characterized the bacterial communities of two sponges, Agelas clathrodes and Xestospongia muta, from offshore reefs during periods of sub-lethal stress and no stress over a three-year period (2016—2018). Sponge-associated and seawater-associated bacterial communities were altered during both flood years. Additionally, we found evidence of wastewater contamination (based on 16S rRNA gene libraries and quantitative PCR) in offshore sponge samples, but not in seawater samples, following these flood years. Signs of wastewater contamination were absent during the no-flood year. We show that flood events from severe storms have the capacity to reach offshore reef ecosystems and impact resident benthic organisms. Such impacts are most readily detected if baseline data on organismal physiology and associated microbiome composition are available. This highlights the need for molecular and microbial time series of benthic organisms in near- and offshore reef ecosystems, and the continued mitigation of stormwater runoff and climate change impacts.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.