Relationship between phylogeny and immunity suggests older Caribbean coral lineages are more resistant to disease.

ABSTRACT: Diseases affect coral species fitness and contribute significantly to the deterioration of coral reefs. The increase in frequency and severity of disease outbreaks has made evaluating and determining coral resistance a priority. Phylogenetic patterns in immunity and disease can provide important insight to how corals may respond to current and future environmental and/or biologically induced diseases. The purpose of this study was to determine if immunity, number of diseases and disease prevalence show a phylogenetic signal among Caribbean corals. We characterized the constitutive levels of six distinct innate immune traits in 14 Caribbean coral species and tested for the presence of a phylogenetic signal on each trait. Results indicate that constitutive levels of some individual immune re

SUBMITTER: Pinzon C JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4136782 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature