Coral Microcosms: Challenges and Opportunities for Global Change Biology

Schubert, Patrick; Wilke, Thomas

doi:10.5772/intechopen.68770

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 60 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…S1). Replicate clonal polyps were isolated from each colony using an electric rotary cutter, mounted on coral glue (Grotech, Cora-Fix SuperFast), and allowed to heal for two weeks in the Ocean2100 aquarium facility (Schubert and Wilke 2018).…”

Section: Preparation Of Single Polypsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The reef-building coral Galaxea fascicularis: a new model system for coral symbiosis research

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Reef-building corals owe their evolutionary success to their symbiosis with unicellular algae (Symbiodiniaceae). However, increasingly frequent heat waves lead to coral mass-bleaching events and pose a serious threat to the survival of reef ecosystems. Despite significant efforts, a mechanistic understanding of coral–algal symbiosis functioning, what leads to its breakdown and what can prevent it, remains incomplete. The main obstacles are low amenability of corals to experimental handling and, owing to its obligatory nature, the difficulties of manipulating the coral–algal association. Indeed, many studies on the symbiotic partnership are conducted on other cnidarian model organisms and their results may therefore not be fully transferable to tropical reef-building corals. Here, we identify the tropical stony coral species Galaxea fascicularis as a novel candidate coral model system. Individual polyps of this species can be separated, enabling highly replicated genotype studies, and are well suited to experimental investigation of the symbiosis as they can be easily and effectively rid of their algal symbionts (bleached). We show that bleached adult individuals can reestablish symbiosis with non-native symbionts, and we report the completion of the gametogenic cycle ex situ, with the successful spawning in aquaria over multiple years. These achievements help overcome several of the major limitations to direct research on corals and highlight the potential of G. fascicularis as an important new model system for investigations of symbiosis functioning and manipulation.

show abstract

Section: Preparation Of Single Polypsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The reef-building coral Galaxea fascicularis: a new model system for coral symbiosis research

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Colonies of Galaxea fascicularis were collected from two locations: the Red Sea (hereafter referred as "Red Sea") and Hong Kong in the South China Sea (hereafter referred as "Hong Kong"). Red Sea colonies (n = 3) were collected from the central Saudi Arabian Red Sea at "Al Fahal" reef (N 22˚18.324' E 38˚57.930'), at 9-13 m depth in March 2019 (CITES permit 19-SA-000096-PD) and transported to the Ocean2100 aquarium facility at Justus Liebig University Giessen (Germany) (Schubert and Wilke 2018). In the aquarium system, light was provided by white and blue fluorescent lamps with a light:dark cycle of 12:12 h at 130-160 µmol photons m -2 s -1 to approximate light conditions at the collection site (Ziegler et al 2015).…”

Section: Coral Collection and Long-term Aquarium Rearingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The bacterial microbiome of symbiotic and menthol-bleached polyps of long-term aquarium-rearedGalaxea fascicularis

Puntin,

Wong,

Röthig

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Coral reefs support the livelihood of half a billion people but are at high risk of collapse due to the vulnerability of corals to climate change and local anthropogenic stressor. While understanding coral functioning is essential to guide conservation efforts, research is challenged by the complex nature of corals. They exist as metaorganisms (holobionts), constituted by the association between the (coral) animal host, its obligate endosymbiotic algae (Symbiodiniaceae), and other microorganisms comprising bacteria, viruses, archaea, fungi and other protists. Researchers therefore increasingly turn to model organisms to unravel holobiont complexity, dynamics, and how these determine the health and fitness of corals. The coral Galaxea fascicularis is an emerging model organism for coral symbiosis research with demonstrated suitability to aquarium rearing and reproduction, and host-Symbiodiniaceae symbiosis manipulation. However, how its microbiome responds to long-term captivity and to menthol bleaching—the experimental removal of the Symbiodiniaceae which represents the first step in the coral-algal symbiosis manipulation—remains unexplored. For this, we characterized the bacterial microbiome of symbiotic and menthol-bleachedG. fascicularisoriginating from the Red Sea and South China Sea (Hong Kong) that were long-term aquarium-reared in separate facilities. We found that captive corals hosted a relatively simple microbiome composed of fewer bacterial taxa than typically found in wild corals. Polyps from the same colony had similar microbiomes, which were distinct from those of other colonies despite co-culturing in shared aquaria. While the response of the bacterial microbiome to menthol bleaching differed between the two facilities, microbiome destabilization and loss of structure emerged as a unifying response, indicative of a dysbiotic state. Considering the importance of captivity and bleaching treatments for holobiont research, our results contribute fundamental knowledge for the development of the Galaxea coral model for symbiosis research.

show abstract

“…S1). Replicate clonal polyps were isolated from each colony using an electric rotary cutter, mounted on coral glue (Grotech, CoraFix SuperFast), and allowed to heal for two weeks in the Ocean2100 aquarium facility (Schubert and Wilke 2018).…”

Section: Preparation Of Single Polyps For Experimentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The reef-building coralGalaxea fascicularis: a new model system for coral symbiosis research

Puntin

Craggs

Hayden

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Reef-building corals owe their evolutionary success to their symbiosis with unicellular algae (Symbiodiniaceae). However, increasingly frequent heat waves lead to coral mass-bleaching events and pose a serious threat to the survival of reef ecosystems. Despite significant efforts, a mechanistic understanding of coral-algal symbiosis functioning, what leads to its breakdown and what can prevent it, remains incomplete. The main obstacles are low amenability of corals to experimental handling and, owing to its obligatory nature, the difficulties of manipulating the coral-algal association. Indeed, many studies on the symbiotic partnership are conducted on other cnidarian model organisms and their results may therefore not be fully transferable to tropical reef-building corals. Here, we identify the tropical stony coral species Galaxea fascicularis as a novel candidate coral model system. Individual polyps of this species can be separated, enabling highly replicated genotype studies, and are well suited to experimental investigation of the symbiosis as they can be easily and effectively rid of their algal symbionts (bleached). We show that bleached adult individuals can reestablish symbiosis with homologous and heterologous symbionts. We also report the completion of the gametogenic cycle ex-situ and the successful spawning in aquaria over multiple years. These achievements help overcome several of the major limitations to direct research on corals and highlight the potential of G. fascicularis as an important new model system for investigations of symbiosis functioning and manipulation.

show abstract

Coral Microcosms: Challenges and Opportunities for Global Change Biology

Cited by 8 publications

References 60 publications

The reef-building coral Galaxea fascicularis: a new model system for coral symbiosis research

The reef-building coral Galaxea fascicularis: a new model system for coral symbiosis research

The bacterial microbiome of symbiotic and menthol-bleached polyps of long-term aquarium-rearedGalaxea fascicularis

The reef-building coralGalaxea fascicularis: a new model system for coral symbiosis research

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About