Journal
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
Volume 5, Issue 5, Pages -Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rsos.172062
Keywords
cnidarians; invertebrates; transcriptomics; ecoimmunology; invertebrate immunity; coral ecology
Categories
Funding
- NSF [1017458]
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship [1144240]
- Division Of Graduate Education
- Direct For Education and Human Resources [1144240] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems
- Direct For Biological Sciences [1017458] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Increasing global temperatures due to climate change have resulted in respective increases in the severity and frequency of epizootics around the globe. Corals in particular have faced rapid declines due to disease outbreaks. Understanding immune responses and associated potential life-history tradeoffs is therefore a priority. In the autumn of 2011, a novel disease of octocorals of the genus Eunicea was first documented in the Florida Keys. Termed Eunicea Black Disease (EBD), the disease is easily identified by the dark appearance of affected tissue, caused by a strong melanization response on the part of the host. In order to better understand the response of corals to EBD, we conducted full transcriptome analysis of 3 healthy and 3 diseased specimens of Eunicea calyculata collected from offshore southeast Florida. Differential expression and protein analyses revealed a strong, diverse immune response to EBD characterized by phagocytosis, adhesion andmelanization on the part of the host. Furthermore, coexpression network analyses suggested this might come at the cost of reduced cell cycle progression and growth. This is in accordance with past histological studies of naturally infected hard corals, suggesting that potential trade-offs during infection may affect post-outbreak recovery of reef ecosystems by reducing both organismal growth and fecundity. Our findings highlight the importance of considering factors beyond mortality when estimating effects of disease outbreaks on ecosystems.
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