Although reef-building corals are threatened by a number of anthropogenic impacts, certain scleractinian-dinoflagellate (genus Symbiodinium) endosymbioses have proven markedly resilient to environmental change. For in...Although reef-building corals are threatened by a number of anthropogenic impacts, certain scleractinian-dinoflagellate (genus Symbiodinium) endosymbioses have proven markedly resilient to environmental change. For instance, corals from upwelling habitats of Southern Taiwan withstand both short- and long-term increases in temperature, potentially due to their routine exposure to highly variable temperature regimes in situ. To gain a greater understanding of the proteomic basis for such acclimatization to unstable environmental conditions, specimens of the Indo-Pacific reef-building coral Seriatopora hystrix Dana 1846 were sampled during a period of stable temperature conditions from 1) a site characterized by frequent upwelling events in Southern Taiwan and 2) a nearby, non-upwelling control site in the Taiwan Strait. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis followed by sequencing of differentially concentrated proteins with mass spectrometry unveiled significantly more proteins involved in the cellular stress response in coral hosts of the upwelling site. Although such stress protein signatures could be indicative of sub-lethal levels of cellular stress, especially given the relatively higher sediment loads characteristic of the upwelling site, these proteins may, in contrast, have been constitutively maintained at high levels in preparation for large fluctuations in temperature and other abiotic parameters (e.g., nutrient levels) brought upon by upwelling events.展开更多
Coral reefs are in terminal decline.For conservation to be effective,naturally depauperate reefs must be distinguished from those recently degraded by humans.Traditional reef monitoring is time consuming and lacks the...Coral reefs are in terminal decline.For conservation to be effective,naturally depauperate reefs must be distinguished from those recently degraded by humans.Traditional reef monitoring is time consuming and lacks the longevity to make this distinction.Success in using foraminifera as bioindicators for reef health has hitherto levered their response to nutrients.Because ocean heat waves are the dominant driver of coral bleaching and death,there is compelling motivation to develop new foraminiferal bioindicators that inform on temperature stress over meaningful timescales.This study focuses on identifying which foraminifera respond systematically to the temperature stress that kills corals.Statistical models were used to compare endosymbiont-bearing foraminiferal families,collected along a heat-stress gradient spanning the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia,to live coral cover at the same sites.Results indicate that Amphisteginidae foraminifera and coral cover show a significant decline in abundance as heat stress increases along the transect sites.Furthermore,ocean productivity and salinity,both recognized environmental influences on foraminifera,are shown to be subordinate to temperature in their sway of this ecological patterning.These findings indicate the potential for using foraminifera to develop new indices capable of quantifying long-term thermal impacts on reefs.展开更多
文摘Although reef-building corals are threatened by a number of anthropogenic impacts, certain scleractinian-dinoflagellate (genus Symbiodinium) endosymbioses have proven markedly resilient to environmental change. For instance, corals from upwelling habitats of Southern Taiwan withstand both short- and long-term increases in temperature, potentially due to their routine exposure to highly variable temperature regimes in situ. To gain a greater understanding of the proteomic basis for such acclimatization to unstable environmental conditions, specimens of the Indo-Pacific reef-building coral Seriatopora hystrix Dana 1846 were sampled during a period of stable temperature conditions from 1) a site characterized by frequent upwelling events in Southern Taiwan and 2) a nearby, non-upwelling control site in the Taiwan Strait. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis followed by sequencing of differentially concentrated proteins with mass spectrometry unveiled significantly more proteins involved in the cellular stress response in coral hosts of the upwelling site. Although such stress protein signatures could be indicative of sub-lethal levels of cellular stress, especially given the relatively higher sediment loads characteristic of the upwelling site, these proteins may, in contrast, have been constitutively maintained at high levels in preparation for large fluctuations in temperature and other abiotic parameters (e.g., nutrient levels) brought upon by upwelling events.
基金supported by the National Science Foundation(NSF)(No.EAR-2035135)。
文摘Coral reefs are in terminal decline.For conservation to be effective,naturally depauperate reefs must be distinguished from those recently degraded by humans.Traditional reef monitoring is time consuming and lacks the longevity to make this distinction.Success in using foraminifera as bioindicators for reef health has hitherto levered their response to nutrients.Because ocean heat waves are the dominant driver of coral bleaching and death,there is compelling motivation to develop new foraminiferal bioindicators that inform on temperature stress over meaningful timescales.This study focuses on identifying which foraminifera respond systematically to the temperature stress that kills corals.Statistical models were used to compare endosymbiont-bearing foraminiferal families,collected along a heat-stress gradient spanning the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia,to live coral cover at the same sites.Results indicate that Amphisteginidae foraminifera and coral cover show a significant decline in abundance as heat stress increases along the transect sites.Furthermore,ocean productivity and salinity,both recognized environmental influences on foraminifera,are shown to be subordinate to temperature in their sway of this ecological patterning.These findings indicate the potential for using foraminifera to develop new indices capable of quantifying long-term thermal impacts on reefs.
