Short Term Exposure to Heat and Sediment Triggers Changes in Coral Gene Expression and Photo-Physiological Performance
Corals, together with their endosymbiotic Symbiodiniaceae, are known to exhibit a suite of mechanisms for survival under stressful conditions. However, exactly how the host animal responds to varying environmental conditions remains unclear. In this study, we tested two relevant environmental factor...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00121/full |
| _version_ | 1818533526567387136 |
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| author | Rosa Celia Poquita-Du Rosa Celia Poquita-Du Rosa Celia Poquita-Du Danwei Huang Danwei Huang Loke Ming Chou Mrinalini Peter A. Todd Peter A. Todd |
| author_facet | Rosa Celia Poquita-Du Rosa Celia Poquita-Du Rosa Celia Poquita-Du Danwei Huang Danwei Huang Loke Ming Chou Mrinalini Peter A. Todd Peter A. Todd |
| author_sort | Rosa Celia Poquita-Du |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Corals, together with their endosymbiotic Symbiodiniaceae, are known to exhibit a suite of mechanisms for survival under stressful conditions. However, exactly how the host animal responds to varying environmental conditions remains unclear. In this study, we tested two relevant environmental factors that can have deleterious effects on corals: heat and sediment. We examined among-genotype responses of Pocillopora acuta to these factors with RNA-Seq in concert with widely-used tools for assessing the physiological conditions of corals. Heat and sediment treatments were applied in a 2 × 2 crossed experimental design: (1) ∼30°C without sediment (control, “C”), (2) ∼30°C with sediment (sediment-only, “S”), (3) ∼32°C without sediment (heat-only, “H”), (4) ∼32°C with sediment (heat + sediment, “H+S”) over four consecutive days (3-h daily exposure) in ex situ aquarium conditions. A clear differentiation in gene expression patterns was observed in corals exposed to heat alone and to heat with sediment, relative to the control treatment. Few transcripts (∼3) were found to be differentially expressed for corals exposed to sediment only. The greater impact of heat was supported by photo-physiological measurements that showed significant effects on maximum quantum yield and average symbiont density among genotypes of P. acuta. The combined effect of heat and sediment caused a greater reduction in average symbiont density than the effect of sediment alone. Furthermore, “H+S” disrupted the ability of corals to maintain processes involving assembly and disassembly of cilium which suggests a synergistic effect between the two factors. We also found that host-specific genes which were expressed differentially may not be related to their interactions with algal symbionts. Rather, these genes are involved in a variety of biological functions including, but not limited to, cilium biogenesis and degradation, cilia motility, innate and adaptive immune responses, cell adhesion and bone mineralization, and processes involved in the cell cycle. These results reflect the complex response of the host alone. Overall, our findings indicate that acute heat stress in tandem with sediment can depress photo-physiological performance and trigger considerable changes in host gene expression. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T17:59:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bbda84af58994a01b4561f35fb11491e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T17:59:53Z |
| publishDate | 2019-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-bbda84af58994a01b4561f35fb11491e2022-12-22T00:55:55ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452019-03-01610.3389/fmars.2019.00121365214Short Term Exposure to Heat and Sediment Triggers Changes in Coral Gene Expression and Photo-Physiological PerformanceRosa Celia Poquita-Du0Rosa Celia Poquita-Du1Rosa Celia Poquita-Du2Danwei Huang3Danwei Huang4Loke Ming Chou5 Mrinalini6Peter A. Todd7Peter A. Todd8Experimental Marine Ecology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, SingaporeReef Ecology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, SingaporeTropical Marine Science Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore, SingaporeReef Ecology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, SingaporeTropical Marine Science Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore, SingaporeTropical Marine Science Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore, SingaporeEvolutionary Biology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, SingaporeExperimental Marine Ecology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, SingaporeTropical Marine Science Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore, SingaporeCorals, together with their endosymbiotic Symbiodiniaceae, are known to exhibit a suite of mechanisms for survival under stressful conditions. However, exactly how the host animal responds to varying environmental conditions remains unclear. In this study, we tested two relevant environmental factors that can have deleterious effects on corals: heat and sediment. We examined among-genotype responses of Pocillopora acuta to these factors with RNA-Seq in concert with widely-used tools for assessing the physiological conditions of corals. Heat and sediment treatments were applied in a 2 × 2 crossed experimental design: (1) ∼30°C without sediment (control, “C”), (2) ∼30°C with sediment (sediment-only, “S”), (3) ∼32°C without sediment (heat-only, “H”), (4) ∼32°C with sediment (heat + sediment, “H+S”) over four consecutive days (3-h daily exposure) in ex situ aquarium conditions. A clear differentiation in gene expression patterns was observed in corals exposed to heat alone and to heat with sediment, relative to the control treatment. Few transcripts (∼3) were found to be differentially expressed for corals exposed to sediment only. The greater impact of heat was supported by photo-physiological measurements that showed significant effects on maximum quantum yield and average symbiont density among genotypes of P. acuta. The combined effect of heat and sediment caused a greater reduction in average symbiont density than the effect of sediment alone. Furthermore, “H+S” disrupted the ability of corals to maintain processes involving assembly and disassembly of cilium which suggests a synergistic effect between the two factors. We also found that host-specific genes which were expressed differentially may not be related to their interactions with algal symbionts. Rather, these genes are involved in a variety of biological functions including, but not limited to, cilium biogenesis and degradation, cilia motility, innate and adaptive immune responses, cell adhesion and bone mineralization, and processes involved in the cell cycle. These results reflect the complex response of the host alone. Overall, our findings indicate that acute heat stress in tandem with sediment can depress photo-physiological performance and trigger considerable changes in host gene expression.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00121/fullPocillopora acutaex situ experimenttranscriptome-wideRNA-SeqSymbiodiniaceaegenotypes |
| spellingShingle | Rosa Celia Poquita-Du Rosa Celia Poquita-Du Rosa Celia Poquita-Du Danwei Huang Danwei Huang Loke Ming Chou Mrinalini Peter A. Todd Peter A. Todd Short Term Exposure to Heat and Sediment Triggers Changes in Coral Gene Expression and Photo-Physiological Performance Frontiers in Marine Science Pocillopora acuta ex situ experiment transcriptome-wide RNA-Seq Symbiodiniaceae genotypes |
| title | Short Term Exposure to Heat and Sediment Triggers Changes in Coral Gene Expression and Photo-Physiological Performance |
| title_full | Short Term Exposure to Heat and Sediment Triggers Changes in Coral Gene Expression and Photo-Physiological Performance |
| title_fullStr | Short Term Exposure to Heat and Sediment Triggers Changes in Coral Gene Expression and Photo-Physiological Performance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Short Term Exposure to Heat and Sediment Triggers Changes in Coral Gene Expression and Photo-Physiological Performance |
| title_short | Short Term Exposure to Heat and Sediment Triggers Changes in Coral Gene Expression and Photo-Physiological Performance |
| title_sort | short term exposure to heat and sediment triggers changes in coral gene expression and photo physiological performance |
| topic | Pocillopora acuta ex situ experiment transcriptome-wide RNA-Seq Symbiodiniaceae genotypes |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00121/full |
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