24.12.2012 Views

11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

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

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!