Diversity and Distribution of Symbiodinium Associated with Seven Common Coral Species in the Chagos Archipelago, Central Indian Ocean

The Chagos Archipelago designated as a no-take marine protected area in 2010, lying about 500 km south of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, has a high conservation priority, particularly because of its fast recovery from the ocean-wide massive coral mortality following the 1998 coral bleaching event. The aims of this study were to examine Symbiodinium diversity and distribution associated with scleractinian corals in five atolls of the Chagos Archipelago, spread over 10,000 km 2. Symbiodinium clade diversity in 262 samples of seven common coral species, Acropora muricata, Isopora palifera, Pocillopora damicornis, P. verrucosa, P. eydouxi, Seriatopora hystrix, and Stylophora pistillata were determined using PCR-SSCP of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1), PCR-DDGE of ITS2, and phylogenetic analyses. The results indicated that Symbiodinium in clade C were the dominant symbiont group in the seven coral species. Our analysis revealed types of Symbiodinium clade C specific to coral species. Types C1 and C3 (with C3z and C3i variants) were dominant in Acroporidae and C1 and C1c were the dominant types in Pocilloporidae. We also found 2 novel ITS2 types in S. hystrix and 1 novel ITS2 type of Symbiodinium in A. muricata. Some colonies of A. muricata and I. palifera were also associated with Symbiodinium A1. These results suggest that corals in the Chagos Archipelago host different assemblages of Symbiodinium types then their conspecifics from other locations in the Indian Ocean; and that future research will show whether these patterns in Symbiodinium genotypes may be due to local adaptation to specific conditions in the Chagos

Development of Gene Expression Markers of Acute Heat-Light Stress in Reef-Building Corals of the Genus Porites

Coral reefs are declining worldwide due to increased incidence of climate-induced coral bleaching, which will have widespread biodiversity and economic impacts. A simple method to measure the sub-bleaching level of heat-light stress experienced by corals would greatly inform reef management practices by making it possible to assess the distribution of bleaching risks among individual reef sites. Gene expression analysis based on quantitative PCR (qPCR) can be used as a diagnostic tool to determine coral condition in situ. We evaluated the expression of 13 candidate genes during heat-light stress in a common Caribbean coral Porites astreoides, and observed strong and consistent changes in gene expression in two independent experiments. Furthermore, we found that the apparent return to baseline expression levels during a recovery phase was rapid, despite visible signs of colony bleaching. We show that the response to acute heat-light stress in P. astreoides can be monitored by measuring the difference in expression of only two genes: Hsp16 and actin. We demonstrate that this assay discriminates between corals sampled from two field sites experiencing different temperatures. We also show that the assay is applicable to an Indo-Pacific congener, P. lobata, and therefore could potentially be used to diagnose acute heat-light stress on coral reefs worldwide

DNA barcoding reveals the coral lab-rat, Stylophora pistillata, is composed of multiple entities

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Data for: Physiological plasticity of corals to temperature stress in marginal coral communities

The files contain raw data of all the physiological parameters analyzed using the coral samples subjected to temperature stress. The experiments were conducted in marginal locations; high-latitude Jeju, South Korea and non-reefal Penghu, Taiwan.THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

Lateral Migration Radiography

Lateral migration radiography (LMR) is a new form of Compton backscatter imaging (CBI) that utilizes both multiple-scatter and single-scatter photons. The LMR imaging modality uses two pairs of detectors. Each set has a detector that is uncollimated to predominantly image single-scatter photons and the other collimated to image predominantly multiple-scattered photons. This allows generation of two separate images, one containing primarily surface features and the other containing primarily subsurface features. These two images make LMR useful for imaging and identifying objects to a depth of several X-ray photon mean free paths even in the presence of unknown surface clutter or surface imperfections.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41869/1/164-10-2-75_10n2p75.pd

Nutrient enrichment caused by marine cage culture and its influence on subtropical coral communities in turbid waters

The scale and intensity of marine cage culture have increased in the Asian-Pacific region, particularly in oligotrophic waters where coral reef organisms flourish. In this study, the influence of marine cage culture on subtropical coral communities in turbid waters was evaluated by measuring environmental parameters and benthic community compositions at Magongwan in the Penghu Islands, Taiwan. A canonical discriminant analysis of environmental parameters revealed that elevated levels of ammonium, nitrite, and chlorophyll a (chl a) released from the cages were the main pollution indicators that, in addition to sedimentation and turbidity, distinguished Impact Zone 1 (cage-culture zone) from the other 2 zones - Impact Zone 2 (800 m away from the cages) and the reference zone - in these turbid waters. Results of the canonical correlation analysis indicated that the coverage extents of macroalgae, sponges, and zoanthids were strongly correlated with levels of ammonium, nitrite, phosphate, chl a, and dissolved oxygen. Coral communities in Impact Zone 1 were mostly composed of stress-tolerant massive and submassive corals, but were lacking branching Acropora corals. In contrast, coral communities in the other zones, with high habitat complexity and species richness, were dominated by coral species with diverse morphologies, including branching Acropora coral communities. These results suggest that marine cage culture has been causing chronic nutrient enrichment in the surrounding waters at Magongwan, which may have resulted in a deterioration of suitable habitats for coral reef organisms. Nevertheless, intermediate levels of nutrients and particulate organic matter relative to the other zones might have been caused by the adjacent cage culture, resulting in the high coral coverage and diversity in the Impact Zone 2 in particular

Coral-killing cyanobacteriosponge (Terpios hoshinota) on the Great Barrier Reef

[Extract] The encrusting cyanobacteriosponge Terpios hoshinota was originally described from Guam (Rützler and Muzik 1993) and is expanding its range in coral reefs of the northwestern Pacific (Liao et al. 2007). Terpios hoshinota encrusts many hard substrates, including live coral, and occasionally undergoes massive outbreaks that can cover huge areas, which can result in the mass mortality of corals and other resident organisms (Bryan 1973; Rützler and Muzik 1993). This sponge presents a potentially serious threat to coral reefs, and data are needed on its current distribution and abundance to assess its geographical expansion