Annual outbreaks of coral disease coincide with extreme seasonal warming

Howells, Emily J.; Vaughan, Grace O.; Work, Thierry M.; Burt, John A.; Abrego, David

doi:10.1007/s00338-020-01946-2

Cited by 58 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 51 publications

(73 reference statements)

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“…Anthropogenic stressors such as habitat loss and fragmentation, chemical contamination, introduced species, and climate change are key factors influencing losses across taxonomic groups. Furthermore, there is increasing recognition of health concerns as species are exposed to emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) [e.g., coral disease outbreaks (7,8); sea star wasting disease (9); bat white-nose syndrome (10,11); avian West Nile virus (12); >50 United States (US) wildlife disease factsheets (13)].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Patterns of the Fungal Pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis Support Conservation Urgency

et al. 2021

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The amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a skin pathogen that can cause the emerging infectious disease chytridiomycosis in susceptible species. It has been considered one of the most severe threats to amphibian biodiversity. We aimed to provide an updated compilation of global Bd occurrences by host taxon and geography, and with the larger global Bd dataset we reanalyzed Bd associations with environmental metrics at the world and regional scales. We also compared our Bd data compilation with a recent independent assessment to provide a more comprehensive count of species and countries with Bd occurrences. Bd has been detected in 1,375 of 2,525 (55%) species sampled, more than doubling known species infections since 2013. Bd occurrence is known from 93 of 134 (69%) countries at this writing; this compares to known occurrences in 56 of 82 (68%) countries in 2013. Climate-niche space is highly associated with Bd detection, with different climate metrics emerging as key predictors of Bd occurrence at regional scales; this warrants further assessment relative to climate-change projections. The accretion of Bd occurrence reports points to the common aims of worldwide investigators to understand the conservation concerns for amphibian biodiversity in the face of potential disease threat. Renewed calls for better mitigation of amphibian disease threats resonate across continents with amphibians, especially outside Asia. As Bd appears to be able to infect about half of amphibian taxa and sites, there is considerable room for biosecurity actions to forestall its spread using both bottom-up community-run efforts and top-down national-to-international policies. Conservation safeguards for sensitive species and biodiversity refugia are continuing priorities.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Patterns of the Fungal Pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis Support Conservation Urgency

et al. 2021

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“…Through our gene expression analysis, we also identified a clear difference in gene expression of the samples between 2016 and 2017 in both the coral host ( Fig 2A ), and the Symbiodiniaceae ( Fig 2C ) [ 28 ]. Without physiological or abiotic measurements, a correlative mechanism cannot be determined, but we hypothesize that the split between 2016 and 2017 may be due to an unknown abiotic stress that has influenced the baseline health of the coral [ 49 , 50 ]. This hypothesis was formed due to a common disease response in the coral host (identified on PC 2) despite the different disease types previously reported [ 28 ] ( Fig 2B ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innate immune gene expression in Acropora palmata is consistent despite variance in yearly disease events

et al. 2020

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Coral disease outbreaks are expected to increase in prevalence, frequency and severity due to climate change and other anthropogenic stressors. This is especially worrying for the Caribbean branching coral Acropora palmata which has already seen an 80% decrease in cover primarily due to disease. Despite the importance of this keystone species, there has yet to be a characterization of its transcriptomic response to disease exposure. In this study we provide the first transcriptomic analysis of 12 A. palmata genotypes and their symbiont Symbiodiniaceae exposed to disease in 2016 and 2017. Year was the primary driver of gene expression variance for A. palmata and the Symbiodiniaceae. We hypothesize that lower expression of ribosomal genes in the coral, and higher expression of transmembrane ion transport genes in the Symbiodiniaceae indicate that a compensation or dysbiosis may be occurring between host and symbiont. Disease response was the second driver of gene expression variance for A. palmata and included a core set of 422 genes that were significantly differentially expressed. Of these, 2 genes (a predicted cyclin-dependent kinase 11b and aspartate 1-decarboxylase) showed negative Log2 fold changes in corals showing transmission of disease, and positive Log2 fold changes in corals showing no transmission of disease, indicating that these may be important in disease resistance. Co-expression analysis identified two modules positively correlated to disease exposure, one enriched for lipid biosynthesis genes, and the other enriched in innate immune genes. The hub gene in the immune module was identified as D-amino acid oxidase, a gene implicated in phagocytosis and microbiome homeostasis. The role of D-amino acid oxidase in coral immunity has not been characterized but could be an important enzyme for responding to disease. Our results indicate that A. palmata mounts a core immune response to disease exposure despite differences in the disease type and virulence between 2016 and 2017. These identified genes may be important for future biomarker development in this Caribbean keystone species.

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“…Warmer temperatures, heat stress and bleaching have also been linked with higher disease prevalence [2,13,14,56]. For example, in the Persian Gulf, white syndrome outbreaks coincide with annual thermal heating events [90]. In the Caribbean, bleaching extent was linked to increased disease incidence [91] and tissue-loss disease outbreaks frequently follow bleaching events [92][93][94].…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative baseline of coral disease in three regions along the Saudi Arabian coast of the central Red Sea

et al. 2021

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Coral disease is a growing problem for coral reefs globally and diseases have been linked to thermal stress, excess nutrients, overfishing and other human impacts. The Red Sea is a unique environment for corals with a strong environmental gradient characterized by temperature extremes and high salinities, but minimal terrestrial runoff or riverine input and their associated pollution. Yet, relatively little is known about coral diseases in this region. Disease surveys were conducted at 22 reefs within three regions (Yanbu, Thuwal, Al Lith) in the central Red Sea along the Saudi Arabian coast. Surveys occurred in October 2015, which coincided with a hyperthermal-induced bleaching event. Our objectives were to 1) document types, prevalence, and distribution of coral diseases in a region with minimal terrestrial input, 2) compare regional differences in diseases and bleaching along a latitudinal gradient of environmental conditions, and 3) use histopathology to characterize disease lesions at the cellular level. Coral reefs of the central Red Sea had a widespread but a surprisingly low prevalence of disease (<0.5%), based on the examination of >75,750 colonies. Twenty diseases were recorded affecting 16 coral taxa and included black band disease, white syndromes, endolithic hypermycosis, skeletal eroding band, growth anomalies and focal bleached patches. The three most common diseases were Acropora white syndrome (59.1% of the survey sites), Porites growth anomalies (40.9%), and Porites white syndrome (31.8%). Sixteen out of 30 coral genera within transects had lesions and Acropora, Millepora and Lobophyllia were the most commonly affected. Cell-associated microbial aggregates were found in four coral genera including a first report in Stylophora. Differences in disease prevalence, coral cover, amount of heat stress as measured by degree heating weeks (DHW) and extent of bleaching was evident among sites. Disease prevalence was not explained by coral cover or DHW, and a negative relationship between coral bleaching and disease prevalence was found. The northern-most sites off the coast of Yanbu had the highest average disease prevalence and highest average DHW values but no bleaching. Our study provides a foundation and baseline data for coral disease prevalence in the central Red Sea, which is projected to increase as a consequence of increased frequency and severity of ocean warming.

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Annual outbreaks of coral disease coincide with extreme seasonal warming

Cited by 58 publications

References 51 publications

Global Patterns of the Fungal Pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis Support Conservation Urgency

Global Patterns of the Fungal Pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis Support Conservation Urgency

Innate immune gene expression in Acropora palmata is consistent despite variance in yearly disease events

A comparative baseline of coral disease in three regions along the Saudi Arabian coast of the central Red Sea

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