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Padayhag BM, Nada MAL, Baquiran JIP, Sison-Mangus MP, San Diego-McGlone ML, Cabaitan PC, Conaco C. Microbial community structure and settlement induction capacity of marine biofilms developed under varied reef conditions. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2023; 193:115138. [PMID: 37321001 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2022] [Revised: 05/27/2023] [Accepted: 06/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Coral larval settlement relies on biogenic cues such as those elicited by microbial biofilm communities, a crucial element of coral recruitment. Eutrophication can modify these biofilm-associated communities, but studies on how this affects coral larval settlement are limited. In this study, we developed biofilm communities on glass slides at four sites with increasing distance from a mariculture zone. Biofilms farthest from the mariculture area were more effective at inducing the settlement of Acropora tenuis larvae. These biofilms were characterized by a greater proportion of crustose coralline algae (CCA) and gammaproteobacterial taxa compared to biofilms from sites closer to the mariculture zone, which had a greater proportion of cyanobacteria and no CCA. These findings suggest that nutrient enrichment due to mariculture activities alters the composition of biofilm-associated microbiome at nearby reef sites and indirectly causes poor coral larval settlement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blaire M Padayhag
- Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
| | - Michael Angelou L Nada
- Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
| | - Jake Ivan P Baquiran
- Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
| | | | | | - Patrick C Cabaitan
- Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
| | - Cecilia Conaco
- Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines.
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Tinoco A, Mitchison-Field L, Bradford J, Renicke C, Perrin D, Bay L, Pringle J, Cleves P. Role of the bicarbonate transporter SLC4γ in stony-coral skeleton formation and evolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2216144120. [PMID: 37276409 PMCID: PMC10268325 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2216144120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Coral reefs are highly diverse ecosystems of immense ecological, economic, and aesthetic importance built on the calcium-carbonate-based skeletons of stony corals. The formation of these skeletons is threatened by increasing ocean temperatures and acidification, and a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved may assist efforts to mitigate the effects of such anthropogenic stressors. In this study, we focused on the role of the predicted bicarbonate transporter SLC4γ, which was suggested in previous studies to be a product of gene duplication and to have a role in coral-skeleton formation. Our comparative-genomics study using 30 coral species and 15 outgroups indicates that SLC4γ is present throughout the stony corals, but not in their non-skeleton-forming relatives, and apparently arose by gene duplication at the onset of stony-coral evolution. Our expression studies show that SLC4γ, but not the closely related and apparently ancestral SLC4β, is highly upregulated during coral development coincident with the onset of skeleton deposition. Moreover, we show that juvenile coral polyps carrying CRISPR/Cas9-induced mutations in SLC4γ are defective in skeleton formation, with the severity of the defect in individual animals correlated with their frequencies of SLC4γ mutations. Taken together, the results suggest that the evolution of the stony corals involved the neofunctionalization of the newly arisen SLC4γ for a unique role in the provision of concentrated bicarbonate for calcium-carbonate deposition. The results also demonstrate the feasibility of reverse-genetic studies of ecologically important traits in adult corals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda I. Tinoco
- Department of Embryology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Baltimore, MD21218
- Applied BioSciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW2109, Australia
| | - Lorna M. Y. Mitchison-Field
- Department of Embryology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Baltimore, MD21218
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA94305
| | - Jacob Bradford
- Centre for Data Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD4001, Australia
- School of Computer Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD4001, Australia
| | - Christian Renicke
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA94305
| | - Dimitri Perrin
- Centre for Data Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD4001, Australia
- School of Computer Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD4001, Australia
| | - Line K. Bay
- Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, QLD4810, Australia
| | - John R. Pringle
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA94305
| | - Phillip A. Cleves
- Department of Embryology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Baltimore, MD21218
- Applied BioSciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW2109, Australia
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA94305
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Devens HR, Davidson PL, Deaker DJ, Smith KE, Wray GA, Byrne M. Ocean acidification induces distinct transcriptomic responses across life history stages of the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma. Mol Ecol 2020; 29:4618-4636. [PMID: 33002253 PMCID: PMC8994206 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2020] [Revised: 08/23/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
Abstract
Ocean acidification (OA) from seawater uptake of rising carbon dioxide emissions impairs development in marine invertebrates, particularly in calcifying species. Plasticity in gene expression is thought to mediate many of these physiological effects, but how these responses change across life history stages remains unclear. The abbreviated lecithotrophic development of the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma provides a valuable opportunity to analyse gene expression responses across a wide range of life history stages, including the benthic, post-metamorphic juvenile. We measured the transcriptional response to OA in H. erythrogramma at three stages of the life cycle (embryo, larva, and juvenile) in a controlled breeding design. The results reveal a broad range of strikingly stage-specific impacts of OA on transcription, including changes in the number and identity of affected genes; the magnitude, sign, and variance of their expression response; and the developmental trajectory of expression. The impact of OA on transcription was notably modest in relation to gene expression changes during unperturbed development and much smaller than genetic contributions from parentage. The latter result suggests that natural populations may provide an extensive genetic reservoir of resilience to OA. Taken together, these results highlight the complexity of the molecular response to OA, its substantial life history stage specificity, and the importance of contextualizing the transcriptional response to pH stress in light of normal development and standing genetic variation to better understand the capacity for marine invertebrates to adapt to OA.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Dione J Deaker
- School of Life and Environmental Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Kathryn E Smith
- The Laboratory, The Marine Biological Association, Plymouth, UK
| | - Gregory A Wray
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Center for Genomic and Computational Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Maria Byrne
- School of Life and Environmental Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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Walker NS, Fernández R, Sneed JM, Paul VJ, Giribet G, Combosch DJ. Differential gene expression during substrate probing in larvae of the Caribbean coral Porites astreoides. Mol Ecol 2019; 28:4899-4913. [PMID: 31596993 PMCID: PMC6900098 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2018] [Revised: 10/03/2019] [Accepted: 10/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The transition from larva to adult is a critical step in the life history strategy of most marine animals. However, the genetic basis of this life history change remains poorly understood in many taxa, including most coral species. Recent evidence suggests that coral planula larvae undergo significant changes at the physiological and molecular levels throughout the development. To investigate this, we characterized differential gene expression (DGE) during the transition from planula to adult polyp in the abundant Caribbean reef-building coral Porites astreoides, that is from nonprobing to actively substrate-probing larva, a stage required for colony initiation. This period is crucial for the coral, because it demonstrates preparedness to locate appropriate substrata for settlement based on vital environmental cues. Through RNA-Seq, we identified 860 differentially expressed holobiont genes between probing and nonprobing larvae (p ≤ .01), the majority of which were upregulated in probing larvae. Surprisingly, differentially expressed genes of endosymbiotic dinoflagellate origin greatly outnumbered coral genes, compared with a nearly 1:1 ratio of coral-to-dinoflagellate gene representation in the holobiont transcriptome. This unanticipated result suggests that dinoflagellate endosymbionts may play a significant role in the transition from nonprobing to probing behaviour in dinoflagellate-rich larvae. Putative holobiont genes were largely involved in protein and nucleotide binding, metabolism and transport. Genes were also linked to environmental sensing and response and integral signalling pathways. Our results thus provide detailed insight into molecular changes prior to larval settlement and highlight the complex physiological and biochemical changes that occur in early transition stages from pelagic to benthic stages in corals, and perhaps more importantly, in their endosymbionts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nia S Walker
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Biology, Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, USA
| | - Rosa Fernández
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | | | - Gonzalo Giribet
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - David J Combosch
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Marine Laboratory, University of Guam, Mangilao, GU, USA
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