Dataset Information

Genetic susceptibility, colony size, and water temperature drive white-pox disease on the coral Acropora palmata.

ABSTRACT: Outbreaks of coral diseases are one of the greatest threats to reef corals in the Caribbean, yet the mechanisms that lead to coral diseases are still largely unknown. Here we examined the spatial-temporal dynamics of white-pox disease on Acropora palmata coral colonies of known genotypes. We took a Bayesian approach, using Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation algorithms, to examine which covariates influenced the presence of white-pox disease over seven years. We showed that colony size, genetic susceptibility of the coral host, and high-water temperatures were the primary tested variables that were positively associated with the presence of white-pox disease on A. palmata colonies. Our study also showed that neither distance from previously diseased individuals, nor colony location, influenced the dynamics of white-pox disease. These results suggest that white-pox disease was most likely a consequence of anomalously high water temperatures that selectively compromised the oldest colonies and the most susceptible coral genotypes.

SUBMITTER: Muller EM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4220941 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Genetic susceptibility, colony size, and water temperature drive white-pox disease on the coral Acropora palmata.

Muller Erinn M EM van Woesik Robert R

PloS one 20141105 11

Outbreaks of coral diseases are one of the greatest threats to reef corals in the Caribbean, yet the mechanisms that lead to coral diseases are still largely unknown. Here we examined the spatial-temporal dynamics of white-pox disease on Acropora palmata coral colonies of known genotypes. We took a Bayesian approach, using Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation algorithms, to examine which covariates influenced the presence of white-pox disease over seven years. We showed that colony size, gene ...[more]

PMID: 25372835

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Project description:BackgroundDespite being one of the first documented, there is little known of the causative agent or environmental stressors that promote white-band disease (WBD), a major disease of Caribbean Acropora palmata. Likewise, there is little known about the spatiality of outbreaks. We examined the spatial patterns of WBD during a 2004 outbreak at Buck Island Reef National Monument in the US Virgin Islands.Methodology/principal findingsRipley's K statistic was used to measure spatial dependence of WBD across scales. Localized clusters of WBD were identified using the DMAP spatial filtering technique. Statistics were calculated for colony- (number of A. palmata colonies with and without WBD within each transect) and transect-level (presence/absence of WBD within transects) data to evaluate differences in spatial patterns at each resolution of coral sampling. The Ripley's K plots suggest WBD does cluster within the study area, and approached statistical significance (p = 0.1) at spatial scales of 1100 m or less. Comparisons of DMAP results suggest the transect-level overestimated the prevalence and spatial extent of the outbreak. In contrast, more realistic prevalence estimates and spatial patterns were found by weighting each transect by the number of individual A. palmata colonies with and without WBD.ConclusionsAs the search for causation continues, surveillance and proper documentation of the spatial patterns may inform etiology, and at the same time assist reef managers in allocating resources to tracking the disease. Our results indicate that the spatial scale of data collected can drastically affect the calculation of prevalence and spatial distribution of WBD outbreaks. Specifically, we illustrate that higher resolution sampling resulted in more realistic disease estimates. This should assist in selecting appropriate sampling designs for future outbreak investigations. The spatial techniques used here can be used to facilitate other coral disease studies, as well as, improve reef conservation and management.

Project description:BackgroundCnidarians, including corals and anemones, offer unique insights into metazoan evolution because they harbor genetic similarities with vertebrates beyond that found in model invertebrates and retain genes known only from non-metazoans. Cataloging genes expressed in Acropora palmata, a foundation-species of reefs in the Caribbean and western Atlantic, will advance our understanding of the genetic basis of ecologically important traits in corals and comes at a time when sequencing efforts in other cnidarians allow for multi-species comparisons.ResultsA cDNA library from a sample enriched for symbiont free larval tissue was sequenced on the 454 GS-FLX platform. Over 960,000 reads were obtained and assembled into 42,630 contigs. Annotation data was acquired for 57% of the assembled sequences. Analysis of the assembled sequences indicated that 83-100% of all A. palmata transcripts were tagged, and provided a rough estimate of the total number genes expressed in our samples (~18,000-20,000). The coral annotation data contained many of the same molecular components as in the Bilateria, particularly in pathways associated with oxidative stress and DNA damage repair, and provided evidence that homologs of p53, a key player in DNA repair pathways, has experienced selection along the branch separating Cnidaria and Bilateria. Transcriptome wide screens of paralog groups and transition/transversion ratios highlighted genes including: green fluorescent proteins, carbonic anhydrase, and oxidative stress proteins; and functional groups involved in protein and nucleic acid metabolism, and the formation of structural molecules. These results provide a starting point for study of adaptive evolution in corals.ConclusionsCurrently available transcriptome data now make comparative studies of the mechanisms underlying coral's evolutionary success possible. Here we identified candidate genes that enable corals to maintain genomic integrity despite considerable exposure to genotoxic stress over long life spans, and showed conservation of important physiological pathways between corals and bilaterians.

Dataset Information

Genetic susceptibility, colony size, and water temperature drive white-pox disease on the coral Acropora palmata.

Publications

Genetic susceptibility, colony size, and water temperature drive white-pox disease on the coral Acropora palmata.

Similar Datasets

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