Metabolomics,Unknown,Transcriptomics,Genomics,Proteomics

Dataset Information

Mfaveolata single-time point bleaching experiment

ABSTRACT: The declining health of coral reefs worldwide is likely to intensify in response to continued anthropogenic disturbance from coastal development, pollution, and climate change. In response to these stresses, reef-building corals may exhibit bleaching, which marks the breakdown in symbiosis between coral and zooxanthellae. Mass coral bleaching due to elevated water temperature can devastate coral reefs on a large geographic scale. In order to understand the molecular and cellular basis of bleaching in corals, we have measured gene expression changes associated with thermal stress and bleaching using a cDNA microarray containing 1,310 genes of the Caribbean coral Montastraea faveolata. In a first experiment, we identified differentially expressed genes by comparing experimentally bleached M. faveolata fragments to control non-heat-stressed fragments. We also identified differentially expressed genes during a time course experiment with four time points across nine days. Results suggest that thermal stress and bleaching in M. faveolata affect the following processes: oxidative stress, Ca2+ homeostasis, cytoskeletal organization, cell death, calcification, metabolism, protein synthesis, heat shock protein activity, and transposon activity. These results represent the first large-scale transcriptomic study focused on revealing the cellular foundation of thermal stress-induced coral bleaching. We postulate that oxidative stress in thermal-stressed corals causes a disruption of Ca2+ homeostasis, which in turn leads to cytoskeletal and cell adhesion changes, decreased calcification, and the initiation of cell death via apoptosis and necrosis. Keywords: thermal stress response; coral bleaching 5 control and 5 heat-stressed RNA samples were hybridized in a 5-replicate dye-swap design (10 total hyb's).

ORGANISM(S): Montastraea faveolata

SUBMITTER: Christian Voolstra

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-10630 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress

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Publications

Differential gene expression during thermal stress and bleaching in the Caribbean coral Montastraea faveolata.

DeSalvo M K MK Voolstra C R CR Sunagawa S S Schwarz J A JA Stillman J H JH Coffroth M A MA Szmant A M AM Medina M M

Molecular ecology 20080724 17

The declining health of coral reefs worldwide is likely to intensify in response to continued anthropogenic disturbance from coastal development, pollution, and climate change. In response to these stresses, reef-building corals may exhibit bleaching, which marks the breakdown in symbiosis between coral and zooxanthellae. Mass coral bleaching due to elevated water temperature can devastate coral reefs on a large geographical scale. In order to understand the molecular and cellular basis of bleac ...[more]

PMID: 18662230

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Project description:Given the overwhelming evidence that symbiont genotypes differentially affect host processes such as growth, bleaching susceptibility, and nutrient acquisition, we set out to measure gene expression differences in fragments of Montastraea faveolata harboring two different clades of Symbiodinium. On the reefs near Puerto Morelos, MÃ©xico, colonies of M. faveolata are known to shift algal symbiont clade with depth, often associating with clade A at the top, clade B in the middle, and clade C near the bottom of the colony. By measuring photosynthetic efficiency and gene expression in control and heat-stressed fragments containing either clade B, clade C, or a mix of both, we found that: 1) the algal response to thermal stress is due to both host and algal factors; 2) fragments of M. faveolata express different genes in response to sub-bleaching thermal stress depending on algal genotype; 3) the overall effect of heat stress on coral gene expression is less significant than the effect of housing different zooxanthellae types. Overall, we present convincing evidence that different Symbiodinium clades may be functionally distinct, which in turn, greatly influences host gene expression. Six fragments (9.5 Â± 3.5cm2) from the top (2.7m), middle (3.7m), and bottom (5.2m) of one massive colony of Montastraea faveolata were collected with a hammer and chisel at âLa Bocanaâ reef near Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico on 31 July 2007. The fragments were divided evenly between two aquaria (50L) that received a constant flow of seawater (~0.64L/min). Each aquarium was fit with a water pump connected to a spray-bar to provide constant water movement and aeration. Both aquaria were placed in a common pond with flowing water to buffer diurnal temperature fluctuations, and both aquaria were exposed to shaded ambient light. All coral fragments were mounted on plasticene and kept at a depth of ~7cm. From 10 to 19 August 2007 (acclimation #1), both aquaria received an average water temperature of 27.9 Â± 0.6oC (as recorded by HOBO Light/Temperature Data Loggers by Onset Corp.). Effective quantum yield (ÎF/Fmâ) measurements were taken at noon, and maximum quantum yield (Fv/Fm) measurements were taken at dusk for all 18 coral fragments using a DIVING-PAM (Walz) beginning on 11 August. Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was measured at noon and averaged 318 Â± 129 umol/m2/sec. From 20 to 21 August 2007, all coral fragments were brought inside during the passage of Hurricane Dean. On 22 August, the experiment was reconstituted, and a second acclimation period began on 23 August and lasted until 1 September. During this time, both aquaria received water at an average temperature of 28.5 Â± 0.8oC, and PAR at an average of 371 Â± 169 umol/m2/sec. On the night of 1 September, one 200-Watt aquarium heater was turned on in the treatment aquarium, and a second heater was turned on 3 days later. During the thermal stress experiment, the control aquarium received an average water temperature of 28.8 Â± 1.2oC; the heated aquarium, 31.5 Â± 1.1oC. PAR present during the thermal stress experiment averaged 420 Â± 152 uE. On the night of 7 September, all fragments were frozen in liquid nitrogen. Eighteen total microarray hybridizations were performed. A reference RNA sample was created by pooling RNA from all 18 prepâs. All control and heat-stressed samples were competitively hybridized against the reference RNA to the M. faveolata microarray (1,310 features).

Project description:Coral bleaching occurs in response to numerous abiotic stressors, the ecologically most relevant of which is hyperthermic stress due to increasing seawater temperatures. Bleaching events can span large geographic areas and are currently a potent threat to coral reefs worldwide. Much effort has been focused on understanding the molecular and cellular events underlying bleaching, and these studies have mainly utilized heat and light stress regimes. In an effort to determine whether different stressors share common bleaching mechanisms, we used cDNA microarrays for the corals Acropora palmata and Montastraea faveolata (containing > 10,000 features) to measure differential gene expression during darkness stress. This is the first coral microarray experiment aimed at darkness stress, and the first for these species to interrogate gene expression at such a large scale. Our results reveal a striking transcriptomic response to darkness in A. palmata involving chaperone and antioxidant up-regulation, growth arrest, and metabolic modifications. As these responses were also measured during thermal stress, our results suggest that different stressors may share common bleaching mechanisms. Furthermore, our results point to ER stress as a critical cellular event involved in darkness-specific (and possibly more general) molecular bleaching mechanisms. On the other hand, we identified a meager transcriptomic response to darkness in M. faveolata where gene expression differences between host colonies and/or sampling locations were greater than differences between control and stressed fragments. To this end, we discuss the importance of factors related to host genotype, Symbiodinium genotype, and the abiotic environment that influence host gene expression and thereby can hinder an investigator’s ability to measure gene expression during a condition of interest. We employed a reference design where all control and dark-stressed samples were compared to a pooled reference aRNA sample composed of aRNA from all fragments. Since all RNA samples were compared to the reference sample, direct comparisons of gene expression across all time points and conditions can be performed.

Project description:Coral bleaching occurs in response to numerous abiotic stressors, the ecologically most relevant of which is hyperthermic stress due to increasing seawater temperatures. Bleaching events can span large geographic areas and are currently a potent threat to coral reefs worldwide. Much effort has been focused on understanding the molecular and cellular events underlying bleaching, and these studies have mainly utilized heat and light stress regimes. In an effort to determine whether different stressors share common bleaching mechanisms, we used cDNA microarrays for the corals Acropora palmata and Montastraea faveolata (containing > 10,000 features) to measure differential gene expression during darkness stress. This is the first coral microarray experiment aimed at darkness stress, and the first for these species to interrogate gene expression at such a large scale. Our results reveal a striking transcriptomic response to darkness in A. palmata involving chaperone and antioxidant up-regulation, growth arrest, and metabolic modifications. As these responses were also measured during thermal stress, our results suggest that different stressors may share common bleaching mechanisms. Furthermore, our results point to ER stress as a critical cellular event involved in darkness-specific (and possibly more general) molecular bleaching mechanisms. On the other hand, we identified a meager transcriptomic response to darkness in M. faveolata, where gene expression differences between host colonies and/or sampling locations were greater than differences between control and stressed fragments. To this end, we discuss the importance of factors related to host genotype, Symbiodinium genotype, and the abiotic environment that influence host gene expression and thereby can hinder an investigator’s ability to measure gene expression during a condition of interest. We employed a reference design where all control and dark-stressed samples were compared to a pooled reference aRNA sample composed of aRNA from all fragments. Since all RNA samples were compared to the reference sample, direct comparisons of gene expression across all time points and conditions can be performed.

Dataset Information

Mfaveolata single-time point bleaching experiment

Publications

Differential gene expression during thermal stress and bleaching in the Caribbean coral Montastraea faveolata.

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