Loss of symbiont infectivity following thermal stress can be a factor limiting recovery from bleaching in cnidarians.

ABSTRACT: Increases in seawater temperature can cause coral bleaching through loss of symbiotic algae (dinoflagellates of the family Symbiodiniaceae). Corals can recover from bleaching by recruiting algae into host cells from the residual symbiont population or from the external environment. However, the high coral mortality that often follows mass-bleaching events suggests that recovery is often limited in the wild. Here, we examine the effect of pre-exposure to heat stress on the capacity of symbiotic algae to infect cnidarian hosts using the Aiptasia (sea-anemone)-Symbiodiniaceae model system. We found that the symbiont strain Breviolum sp. CS-164 (ITS2 type B1), both free-living and in symbiosis, loses the capacity to infect the host following exposure to heat stress. This loss of infectivity is

SUBMITTER: Kishimoto M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7784860 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature