11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University
11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University
11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University
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Poster Mini-Symposium 5: Functional Biology of Corals and Coral Symbiosis: Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Physiology<br />
5.91<br />
Potential Implication Of Host/symbiont Recognition Mechanisms in Coral<br />
Bleaching<br />
Jérémie VIDAL-DUPIOL* 1 , Guillaume MITTA 2 , Emmanuel ROGER 2 , Denis<br />
ALLEMAND 3 , Christine FERRIER-PAGÈS 3 , Paola FURLA 4 , Renaud GROVER 3 ,<br />
Pierre-Laurent MERLE 4 , Eric TAMBUTTÉ 3 , Sylvie TAMBUTTÉ 3 , Didier ZOCCOLA 3 ,<br />
Ophélie LADRIÈRE 5 , Mathieu POULICEK 5 , Laurent FOURÉ 6 , Mehdi ADJEROUD 2<br />
1 Biologie Ecologie Tropicale et Mediterranéenne, UMR 5244 CNRS-UPVD-EPHE,<br />
Perpignan, France, 2 Biologie Ecologie Tropicale et Mediterranéenne, UMR 5244 CNRS-<br />
UPVD-EPHE, Perpignan Cedex, France, 3 Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Monaco-Ville,<br />
Monaco, 4 UMR-112 UNSA-INRA ROSE, Nice Cedex 02, France, 5 Laboratoire<br />
d'écologie animale et écotoxicologie, Unité d'écologie marine, Liège (Sart Tilman),<br />
Belgium, 6 Aquarium du Cap d’Agde, Cap d'Agde, France<br />
Bleaching in corals can be attributed to loss of endosymbiotic zooxanthellae and/or loss<br />
of photosynthetic pigments within zooxanthellae. This major disturbance of the reef<br />
ecosystem is principally induced by increases in water temperature. Since the beginning<br />
of the 80’s and the onset of global climate change, this phenomenon has been occurring<br />
at increasing rates and scales, and with increasing severity. In this study, we focused on<br />
finding early regulated genes involved in bleaching. In aquaria, one set of Pocillopora<br />
damicornis nubbins was subjected to a gradual seawater temperature increase from 28°C<br />
to 32°C over 15 days, and a second control set remained at constant temperature (28°C).<br />
Bleaching was monitored by measuring zooxanthellae density. The mRNA differentially<br />
expressed between the stressed state (sampled just before the onset of bleaching) and the<br />
non stressed state (control) were isolated from the nubbins by Suppression Subtractive<br />
Hybridization. The corresponding cDNA were sequenced and confronted to sequence<br />
databases to obtain gene similarities. Finally, transcription rates of the most interesting<br />
genes were conducted by Q-PCR. Two particularly interesting candidate genes showed<br />
an important decrease in their transcription rates following thermal stress and before<br />
zooxanthellae loss. These two genes show similarities with genes involved in<br />
host/symbiont and host/parasite models. The implication of these molecular actors<br />
suggests a possible role of recognition mechanisms between the host and its symbiont, in<br />
the breakdown of the symbiosis during the bleaching phenomenon. Experiments such as<br />
RACE-PCR, in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry are currently underway to<br />
confirm our hypotheses.<br />
5.92<br />
Influence Of Mg Calcite–associated Proteins On The Formation Of Sclerites in Soft<br />
Corals<br />
M. Azizur RAHMAN* 1 , Tamotsu OOMORI 1<br />
1 Chemistry, <strong>University</strong> of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Japan<br />
Non-reef-building soft corals contain small spicules of calcium carbonate called sclerites.<br />
To date, the Mg calcite–associated proteins that are key for the formation of non-reefbuilding<br />
corals have not been identified. The goal of this research was to study the<br />
involvement of Mg calcite proteins in the morphology of calcium carbonate deposition in<br />
sclerites, the vital controlling factor for growth of soft corals. Prior to isolation of proteins<br />
from the sclerites of Lobophytum crassum, calcitic polycrystals, including Mg calcite,<br />
had been identified using an Electron Probe Micro analyzer, X-ray diffractional analysis,<br />
and Raman spectroscopy. A mineral phase in the precipitated crystals resulting from<br />
protein interaction in the calcification process was identified as Mg calcite. Here we show<br />
that the crystals’ nucleation form in sclerites has a rhombohedral morphology in the<br />
presence of Mg calcite proteins. We also show the interesting phenomenon of a transition<br />
of crystals from the aragonite to calcite phase in the presence of Mg calcite proteins. We<br />
investigated the interaction of Mg calcite proteins in the formation of surface on crystal<br />
sheets during calcification using atomic force microscopy. Electrophoretic analysis of Mg<br />
calcite proteins extracted from the soluble and insoluble organic matrices of sclerites<br />
revealed four proteins, with one of them of 67 kDa possibly being glycosylated. Calcium<br />
binding analysis of the Mg calcitic proteins in these fractions indicated that the 67-kDa<br />
protein can bind Ca2+, which is requisite for sclerite formation. The N-terminal amino<br />
acids of this newly identified protein were sequenced, and subjected to bioinformatics<br />
analysis involving identification of similarities to other animal proteins. Thus,<br />
understanding the role of Mg calcite proteins in non-reef-building corals may provide<br />
important information about the biological mechanisms of mineralization, and this could<br />
prove to be of much interest to those in the fields of materials science and<br />
biomineralization.<br />
5.93<br />
Comparative Genetics Of aiptasia Anemones And Their Dinoflagellate Symbionts<br />
Reveals High Specificity in An Invertebrate-symbiodinium Symbiosis<br />
Yu XIANG* 1 , Scott SANTOS 1<br />
1 Biological Sciences, Auburn <strong>University</strong>, Auburn, AL<br />
Marine invertebrates and their symbiotic dinoflagellates in the genus Symbiodinium have been<br />
intensively studied in recent years. However, the degree of specificity and flexibility between<br />
partners remains unclear. To explore this, we first utilized inter-simple sequence repeats<br />
(ISSRs) to develop sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers for anemones in<br />
the genus Aiptasia. Data from seven SCAR markers found Florida Aiptasia to be genetically<br />
distinct from all other localities, suggesting the genus is comprised of two “genetic” species.<br />
Notably, the distribution of the “genetic” species does not coincide with the range of the<br />
morphologically described species A. pulchella (Pacific and Indian Oceans and Red Sea) and A.<br />
pallida (Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea). Coinciding with this, restriction fragment length<br />
polymorphism (RFLP) analyses of symbiont populations from 426 Aiptasia collected from 17<br />
localities worldwide found Florida Aiptasia hosting either Symbiodinium Clades A, B or<br />
mixtures of both A and B simultaneously while Aiptasia from all other locations harbored Clade<br />
B only. To quantify fine-scale population structure and genetic differences among symbiont<br />
populations, six microsatellite loci specific for Clade B were utilized on 326 individual<br />
Aiptasia. We found that 18 out of 50 (36%) Florida Aiptasia thought to harbor only Clade A by<br />
RFLP analyses also possessed low levels of Clade B symbionts when examined by<br />
microsatellite analyses, suggesting background symbiont populations of a host may escape<br />
detection depending on the utilized technique. Strong population structure in Clade B<br />
populations was observed since most genotypes were unique to a specific locality. However, no<br />
sequence variation was observed in the flanking regions of these loci, suggesting an identical<br />
Symbiodinium Clade B phylotype associates with Aiptasia on a worldwide scale, which implies<br />
high specificity in this invertebrate-algal symbiosis.<br />
5.94<br />
Cell Cycle Pattern Of Free-Living Zooxanthellae: Effect Of Light<br />
Li-Hsueh WANG* 1,2 , Chii-Shian CHEN 1 , Li-Shing FANG 3 , Hui-Ju HUANG 1 , Shao-En<br />
PENG 1 , Yi-Yuong HSIAO 1<br />
1 Coral Research Center, National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, Pingtung,<br />
Taiwan, 2 Institute of Marine Biotechnology, National Dong Hwa <strong>University</strong>, Hualien, Taiwan,<br />
3 Department of Kinesiology, Health and Leisue Studies, Cheng Shiu <strong>University</strong>, Kaohsiung,<br />
Taiwan<br />
The cell cycle, one of the most comprehensively studied biological processes, is normally<br />
characterized by a round of DNA replication (S phase) followed by mitosis and cytokinesis (M<br />
phase) and separated by two gap phases (G1 and G2). Many marine cnidarian are known to<br />
harbor dinoflagellate named zooxanthellae as symbiont inside the gastrodermal cells.<br />
Regulation in the numbers of zooxanthellae in the host is an essential feature under steady state<br />
conditions. Mechanisms of this cell cycle regulation were studied by culturing free-living<br />
zooxanthellae, Symbiodinium spp, originally isolated from Euphyllia glabrescens, under<br />
different treatments, and cell cycle distribution was determined by flow cytometry. Our results<br />
showed that about 40%~50% of free-living zooxanthellae proliferated, whereas only