Thermal and herbicide tolerances of chromerid algae and their ability to form a symbiosis with corals

Reef-building corals form an obligate symbiosis with photosynthetic microalgae in the family Symbiodiniaceae that meet most of their energy requirements. This symbiosis is under threat from the unprecedented rate of ocean warming as well as the simultaneous pressure of local stressors such as poor water quality. Only 1°C above mean summer sea surface temperatures (SSTs) on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) can trigger the loss of Symbiodiniaceae from the host, and very low concentrations of the most common herbicide, diuron, can disrupt the photosynthetic activity of microalgae. In an era of rapid environmental change, investigation into the assisted evolution of the coral holobiont is underway in an effort to enhance the resilience of corals. Apicomplexan-like microalgae were discovered in 2008 and the Phylum Chromerida (chromerids) was created. Chromerids have been isolated from corals and contain a functional photosynthetic plastid. Their discovery therefore opens a new avenue of research into the use of alternative/additional photosymbionts of corals. However, only two studies to-date have investigated the symbiotic nature of Chromera velia with corals and thus little is known about the coral-chromerid relationship. Furthermore, the response of chromerids to environmental stressors has not been examined. Here we tested the performance of four chromerid strains and the common dinofiagellate symbiont Cladocopium goreaui (formerly Symbiodinium goreaui, ITS2 type C1) in response to elevated temperature, diuron and their combined exposure. Three of the four chromerid strains exhibited high thermal tolerances and two strains showed exceptional herbicide tolerances, greater than observed for any photosynthetic microalgae, including C. goreaui. We also investigated the onset of symbiosis between the chromerids and larvae of two common GBR coral species under ambient and stress conditions. Levels of colonization of coral larvae with the chromerid strains were low compared to colonization with C. goreaui. We did not observe any overall negative or positive larval fitness effects of the inoculation with chromerid algae vs. C. goreaui. However, we cannot exclude the possibility that chromerid algae may have more important roles in later coral life stages and recommend this be the focus of future studies

Some Rare Indo-Pacific Coral Species Are Probable Hybrids

Background: coral reefs worldwide face a variety of threats and many coral species are increasingly endangered. It is often assumed that rare coral species face higher risks of extinction because they have very small effective population sizes, a predicted consequence of which is decreased genetic diversity and adaptive potential.\ud \ud Methodology/Principal Findings: here we show that some Indo-Pacific members of the coral genus Acropora have very small global population sizes and are likely to be unidirectional hybrids. Whether this reflects hybrid origins or secondary hybridization following speciation is unclear.\ud \ud Conclusions/Significance: the interspecific gene flow demonstrated here implies increased genetic diversity and adaptive potential in these coral species. Rare Acropora species may therefore be less vulnerable to extinction than has often been assumed because of their propensity for hybridization and introgression, which may increase their adaptive potential

Coral adaptation to climate change: meta-analysis reveals high heritability across multiple traits

Anthropogenic climate change is a rapidly intensifying selection pressure on biodiversity across the globe and, particularly, on the world's coral reefs. The rate of adaptation to climate change is proportional to the amount of phenotypic variation that can be inherited by subsequent generations (i.e., narrow-sense heritability, h2). Thus, traits that have higher heritability (e.g., h2 > 0.5) are likely to adapt to future conditions faster than traits with lower heritability (e.g., h2 0.50) for metrics related to survival and immune responses. Some of these values are higher than typically observed in other taxa, such as survival and growth, while others were more comparable, such as gene expression and photochemistry. There was no detectable effect of temperature on heritability, but narrow-sense heritability estimates were generally lower than broad-sense estimates, indicative of significant non-additive genetic variation across traits. Trait heritability also varied depending on coral life stage, with bleaching and growth in juveniles generally having lower heritability compared to bleaching and growth in larvae and adults. These differences may be the result of previous stabilizing selection on juveniles or may be due to constrained evolution resulting from genetic trade-offs or genetic correlations between growth and thermotolerance. While we find no evidence that heritability decreases under temperature stress, explicit tests of the heritability of thermal tolerance itself—such as coral thermal reaction norm shape—are lacking. Nevertheless, our findings overall reveal high trait heritability for the majority of coral traits, suggesting corals may have a greater potential to adapt to climate change than has been assumed in recent evolutionary models

Real-time PCR reveals a high incidence of Symbiodinium clade D at low levels in four scleractinian corals across the Great Barrier Reef:Implications for symbiont shuffling

Reef corals form associations with an array of genetically and physiologically distinct endosymbionts from the genus Symbiodinium. Some corals harbor different clades of symbionts simultaneously, and over time the relative abundances of these clades may change through a process called symbiont shuffling. It is hypothesized that this process provides a mechanism for corals to respond to environmental threats such as global warming. However, only a minority of coral species have been found to harbor more than one symbiont clade simultaneously and the current view is that the potential for symbiont shuffling is limited. Using a newly developed real-time PCR assay, this paper demonstrates that previous studies have underestimated the presence of background symbionts because of the low sensitivity of the techniques used. The assay used here targets the multi-copy rDNA ITS1 region and is able to detect Symbiodinium clades C and D with > 100-fold higher sensitivity compared to conventional techniques. Technical considerations relating to intragenomic variation, estimating copy number and non-symbiotic contamination are discussed. Eighty-two colonies from four common scleractinian species (Acropora millepora, Acropora tenuis, Stylophora pistillata and Turbinaria reniformis) and 11 locations on the Great Barrier Reef were tested for background Symbiodinium clades. Although these colonies had been previously identified as harboring only a single clade based on SSCP analyses, background clades were detected in 78% of the samples, indicating that the potential for symbiont shuffling may be much larger than currently thought

Thermal and Herbicide Tolerances of Chromerid Algae and Their Ability to Form a Symbiosis With Corals

Reef-building corals form an obligate symbiosis with photosynthetic microalgae in the family Symbiodiniaceae that meet most of their energy requirements. This symbiosis is under threat from the unprecedented rate of ocean warming as well as the simultaneous pressure of local stressors such as poor water quality. Only 1°C above mean summer sea surface temperatures (SSTs) on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) can trigger the loss of Symbiodiniaceae from the host, and very low concentrations of the most common herbicide, diuron, can disrupt the photosynthetic activity of microalgae. In an era of rapid environmental change, investigation into the assisted evolution of the coral holobiont is underway in an effort to enhance the resilience of corals. Apicomplexan-like microalgae were discovered in 2008 and the Phylum Chromerida (chromerids) was created. Chromerids have been isolated from corals and contain a functional photosynthetic plastid. Their discovery therefore opens a new avenue of research into the use of alternative/additional photosymbionts of corals. However, only two studies to-date have investigated the symbiotic nature of Chromera velia with corals and thus little is known about the coral-chromerid relationship. Furthermore, the response of chromerids to environmental stressors has not been examined. Here we tested the performance of four chromerid strains and the common dinoflagellate symbiont Cladocopium goreaui (formerly Symbiodinium goreaui, ITS2 type C1) in response to elevated temperature, diuron and their combined exposure. Three of the four chromerid strains exhibited high thermal tolerances and two strains showed exceptional herbicide tolerances, greater than observed for any photosynthetic microalgae, including C. goreaui. We also investigated the onset of symbiosis between the chromerids and larvae of two common GBR coral species under ambient and stress conditions. Levels of colonization of coral larvae with the chromerid strains were low compared to colonization with C. goreaui. We did not observe any overall negative or positive larval fitness effects of the inoculation with chromerid algae vs. C. goreaui. However, we cannot exclude the possibility that chromerid algae may have more important roles in later coral life stages and recommend this be the focus of future studies

Thermal and Herbicide Tolerances of Chromerid Algae and Their Ability to Form a Symbiosis With Corals

Reef-building corals form an obligate symbiosis with photosynthetic microalgae in the family Symbiodiniaceae that meet most of their energy requirements. This symbiosis is under threat from the unprecedented rate of ocean warming as well as the simultaneous pressure of local stressors such as poor water quality. Only 1°C above mean summer sea surface temperatures (SSTs) on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) can trigger the loss of Symbiodiniaceae from the host, and very low concentrations of the most common herbicide, diuron, can disrupt the photosynthetic activity of microalgae. In an era of rapid environmental change, investigation into the assisted evolution of the coral holobiont is underway in an effort to enhance the resilience of corals. Apicomplexan-like microalgae were discovered in 2008 and the Phylum Chromerida (chromerids) was created. Chromerids have been isolated from corals and contain a functional photosynthetic plastid. Their discovery therefore opens a new avenue of research into the use of alternative/additional photosymbionts of corals. However, only two studies to-date have investigated the symbiotic nature of Chromera velia with corals and thus little is known about the coral-chromerid relationship. Furthermore, the response of chromerids to environmental stressors has not been examined. Here we tested the performance of four chromerid strains and the common dinoflagellate symbiont Cladocopium goreaui (formerly Symbiodinium goreaui, ITS2 type C1) in response to elevated temperature, diuron and their combined exposure. Three of the four chromerid strains exhibited high thermal tolerances and two strains showed exceptional herbicide tolerances, greater than observed for any photosynthetic microalgae, including C. goreaui. We also investigated the onset of symbiosis between the chromerids and larvae of two common GBR coral species under ambient and stress conditions. Levels of colonization of coral larvae with the chromerid strains were low compared to colonization with C. goreaui. We did not observe any overall negative or positive larval fitness effects of the inoculation with chromerid algae vs. C. goreaui. However, we cannot exclude the possibility that chromerid algae may have more important roles in later coral life stages and recommend this be the focus of future studies

Does the Clinical Frailty Scale at Triage Predict Outcomes From Emergency Care for Older People?

Study objective: We determine whether the Clinical Frailty Scale applied at emergency department (ED) triage is associated with important service- and patient-related outcomes. Methods: We undertook a single-center, retrospective cohort study examining hospital-related outcomes and their associations with frailty scores assessed at ED triage. Participants were aged 65 years or older, registered on their first ED presentation during the study period at a single, centralized ED in the United Kingdom. Baseline data included age, sex, Clinical Frailty Scale score, National Early Warning Score–2 and the Charlson Comorbidity Index score; outcomes included length of stay, readmissions (any future admissions), and mortality (inhospital or out of hospital) up to 2 years after ED presentation. Survival analysis methods (standard and competing risks) were applied to assess associations between ED triage frailty scores and outcomes. Unadjusted incidence curves and adjusted hazard ratios are presented. Results: A total of 52,562 individuals representing 138,328 ED attendances were included; participants’ mean age was 78.0 years, and 55% were women. Initial admission rates generally increased with frailty. Mean length of stay after 30- or 180-day follow-up was relatively low; all Clinical Frailty Scale categories included patients who experienced zero days’ length of stay (ie, ambulatory care) and patients with relatively high numbers of inhospital days. Overall, 46% of study participants were readmitted by the 2-year follow-up. Readmissions increased with Clinical Frailty Scale score up until a score of 6 and then attenuated. Mortality rates increased with increasing frailty; the adjusted hazard ratio was 3.6 for Clinical Frailty Scale score 7 to 8 compared with score 1 to 3. Conclusion: Frailty assessed at ED triage (with the Clinical Frailty Scale) is associated with adverse outcomes in older people. Its use in ED triage might aid immediate clinical decisionmaking and service configuration

Estimating the Potential for Adaptation of Corals to Climate Warming

The persistence of tropical coral reefs is threatened by rapidly increasing climate warming, causing a functional breakdown of the obligate symbiosis between corals and their algal photosymbionts (Symbiodinium) through a process known as coral bleaching. Yet the potential of the coral-algal symbiosis to genetically adapt in an evolutionary sense to warming oceans is unknown. Using a quantitative genetics approach, we estimated the proportion of the variance in thermal tolerance traits that has a genetic basis (i.e. heritability) as a proxy for their adaptive potential in the widespread Indo-Pacific reef-building coral Acropora millepora. We chose two physiologically different populations that associate respectively with one thermo-tolerant (Symbiodinium clade D) and one less tolerant symbiont type (Symbiodinium C2). In both symbiont types, pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis revealed significant heritabilities for traits related to both photosynthesis and photoprotective pigment profile. However, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assays showed a lack of heritability in both coral host populations for their own expression of fundamental stress genes. Coral colony growth, contributed to by both symbiotic partners, displayed heritability. High heritabilities for functional key traits of algal symbionts, along with their short clonal generation time and high population sizes allow for their rapid thermal adaptation. However, the low overall heritability of coral host traits, along with the corals' long generation time, raise concern about the timely adaptation of the coral-algal symbiosis in the face of continued rapid climate warming

From cholera to corals: viruses as drivers of virulence in a major coral bacterial pathogen

Disease is an increasing threat to reef-building corals. One of the few identified pathogens of coral disease is the bacterium Vibrio coralliilyticus. In Vibrio cholerae, infection by a bacterial virus (bacteriophage) results in the conversion of non-pathogenic strains to pathogenic strains and this can lead to cholera pandemics. Pathogenicity islands encoded in the V. cholerae genome play an important role in pathogenesis. Here we analyse five whole genome sequences of V. coralliilyticus to examine whether virulence is similarly driven by horizontally acquired elements. We demonstrate that bacteriophage genomes encoding toxin genes with homology to those found in pathogenic V. cholerae are integrated in V. coralliilyticus genomes. Virulence factors located on chromosomal pathogenicity islands also exist in some strains of V. coralliilyticus. The presence of these genetic signatures indicates virulence in V. coralliilyticus is driven by prophages and other horizontally acquired elements. Screening for pathogens of coral disease should target conserved regions in these elements

Emotion regulation before and after transcranial magnetic stimulation in obsessive compulsive disorder

Impaired emotion regulation may underlie exaggerated emotional reactivity in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), yet instructed emotion regulation has never been studied in the disorder. METHOD: This study aimed to assess the neural correlates of emotion processing and regulation in 43 medication-free OCD patients and 38 matched healthy controls, and additionally test if these can be modulated by stimulatory (patients) and inhibitory (controls) repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). Participants performed an emotion regulation task during functional magnetic resonance imaging before and after a single session of randomly assigned real or sham rTMS. Effect of group and rTMS were assessed on self-reported distress ratings and brain activity in frontal-limbic regions of interest. RESULTS: Patients had higher distress ratings than controls during emotion provocation, but similar rates of distress reduction after voluntary emotion regulation. OCD patients compared with controls showed altered amygdala responsiveness during symptom provocation and diminished left dlPFC activity and frontal-amygdala connectivity during emotion regulation. Real v. sham dlPFC stimulation differentially modulated frontal-amygdala connectivity during emotion regulation in OCD patients. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that the increased emotional reactivity in OCD may be due to a deficit in emotion regulation caused by a failure of cognitive control exerted by the dorsal frontal cortex. Modulatory rTMS over the left dlPFC may influence automatic emotion regulation capabilities by influencing frontal-limbic connectivity