Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted ascending) Filter |
|---|
| intraspecific recognition system in scleractinian corals: morphological and cytochemical description of the autolysis mechanism. | intraspecific aggressive interactions have been observed in the scleractinian coral stylophora pistillata. extensive field observations suggest that intraspecific interactions result in the formation of necrosis in one of the two competing colonies. the formation of necroses is primarily restricted to those layers that are interspersed with polyps. in a second phase the non-living, central corallum is destroyed by foreign microorganisms. in some cases the necroses are resealed again, either by a ... | 1984 | 6141203 |
| a compartmental approach to the mechanism of calcification in hermatypic corals | ca2+ compartments, ca2+ transport and the calcification process were studied by using 45ca as a tracer. the biological model used was clones of stylophora pistillata developed into microcolonies whose skeleton is entirely covered by tissues, thus avoiding direct radioisotope exchange between the sea water and the skeleton. the study of ca2+ compartments was performed by measuring two complementary parameters: ca2+ influx and ca2+ efflux kinetics. kinetic analysis of 45ca uptake revealed three ex ... | 1996 | 9318837 |
| organic matrix synthesis in the scleractinian coral stylophora pistillata: role in biomineralization and potential target of the organotin tributyltin | the kinetics of organic matrix biosynthesis and incorporation into scleractinian coral skeleton was studied using microcolonies of stylophora pistillata. [14c]aspartic acid was used to label the organic matrix since this acidic amino acid can represent up to 50 mol % of organic matrix proteins. external aspartate was rapidly incorporated into tissue protein without any detectable lag phase, suggesting either a small intracellular pool of aspartic acid or a pool with a fast turn-over rate. the in ... | 1998 | 9622572 |
| cloning of a calcium channel alpha1 subunit from the reef-building coral, stylophora pistillata. | while the mechanisms of cellular ca2+ entry associated with cell activation are well characterized, the pathway of continuous uptake of the large amount of ca2+ needed in the biomineralization process remains largely unknown. scleractinian corals are one of the major calcifying groups of organisms. recent studies have suggested that a voltage-dependent ca2+ channel is involved in the transepithelial transport of ca2+ used for coral calcification. we report here the cloning and sequencing of a cd ... | 1999 | 10023047 |
| molecular characterization of the first heat shock protein 70 from a reef coral. | the branching coral stylophora pistillata, one of the most abundant hermatypic corals along the coasts of the red sea, has been used for many years as a model species for coral biological studies. here we characterize the first coral heat shock protein 70 gene (sp-hsp70), cloned from s. pistillata, to be used as a tool for studying coral stress response. the cloning was carried out by a combination of pcr methods using heterologous, degenerate hsp70-based primers, followed by plaque-lift screeni ... | 1999 | 10448076 |
| scyphozoan jellyfish's mesoglea supports attachment, spreading and migration of anthozoans' cells in vitro. | mechanically and enzymatically dissociated cells from five anthozoan species were laid on seven substrates in vitro. cells were taken from two sea anemones (aiptasia sp. and anemonia sulcata), a scleractinian coral (stylophora pistillata) and two alcyonacean corals (heteroxenia fuscescence and nephthea sp). substrates tested: glass (coverslips), plastic (uncoated tissue culture plates), type iv collagen, gelatin, fibronectin, mesoglea pieces from the scyphozoan jellyfish rhopilema nomadica and a ... | 1999 | 10600239 |
| isolation and primary culture of viable multicellular endothelial isolates from hard corals. | conditions for the primary culture of branching scleractinian coral (acropora micropthalma and pocillopora damicornis) cells were established with a calcium-free seawater cell dissociation method. cells were isolated and cultured in supplemented dulbecco's modified eagle media with heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum, antibiotics, and sterile seawater. among the isolated cell types, large (60-100 microm) multicellular endothelial isolates (meis) were seen in high numbers. these isolates were obs ... | 1999 | 10614872 |
| sources and mechanisms of inorganic carbon transport for coral calcification and photosynthesis. | the sources and mechanisms of inorganic carbon transport for scleractinian coral calcification and photosynthesis were studied using a double labelling technique with h(14)co(3) and (45)ca. clones of stylophora pistillata that had developed into microcolonies were examined. compartmental and pharmacological analyses of the distribution of(45)ca and h(14)co(3) in the coelenteron, tissues and skeleton were performed in dark or light conditions or in the presence of various seawater hco(3)(-) conce ... | 2000 | 11044383 |
| genotypic diversity and gene flow in brooding and spawning corals along the great barrier reef, australia. | marine organisms exhibit great variation in reproductive modes, larval types, and other life-history traits that may have major evolutionary consequences. we measured local and regional patterns of genetic variation in corals along australia's great barrier reef to determine the relative contributions of sexual and asexual reproduction to recruitment and to infer levels of gene flow both locally (among adjacent sites, < 5 km apart) and regionally (among reefs separated by 500-1,200 km). we selec ... | 2000 | 11108587 |
| photo-acclimation of the hermatypic coral stylophora pistillata while subjected to either starvation or food provisioning. | this study investigated the photo-acclimation capacity of the coral stylophora pistillata (esper). outer branches of coral colonies, taken from 2 m, were subjected to 90, 20, or 3% of incident surface photosynthetic active radiation (par(0)), or kept in total darkness. the corals were maintained either in filtered seawater (i.e., under starvation), or in seawater that had daily additions of zooplankton (rotifers). the experiments were maintained for 31 days. zooxanthellae population densities an ... | 2001 | 11245874 |
| response of a scleractinian coral, stylophora pistillata, to iron and nitrate enrichment. | the purpose of this study was to determine whether the addition of iron alone or in combination with nitrate affects growth and photosynthesis of the scleractinian coral, stylophora pistillata, and its symbiotic dinoflagellates. for this purpose, we used three series of two tanks for a 3-week enrichment with iron (fe), nitrate (n) and nitrate+iron (nfe). two other tanks were kept as a control (c). stock solutions of fecl(3) and nano(3) were diluted to final concentrations of 6 nm fe and 2 &mgr;m ... | 2001 | 11343715 |
| a computerized tank system for studying the effect of temperature on calcification of reef organisms. | mediated by algal symbionts, calcification in reef building corals is one of the important processes, which enable coral's growth. in the present study, we used a buoyant weighing technique to study calcification of two coralline species, stylophora pistillata and the hydrocoral millepora dichotoma. the colonies were grown in a tank system, in which light, nutrition and water motion were kept constant and temperature was elevated by means of a computerized controlled apparatus. an almost constan ... | 2002 | 11741711 |
| fatty acid variations in symbiotic dinoflagellates from okinawan corals. | the fatty acid composition of polar lipids and triacylglycerols was determined in different morphophysiological types of symbiotic dinoflagellates (sd) isolated from the hydrocoral millepora intricata and the scleractinian corals pocillopora damicornis, seriatopora caliendrum, seriatopora hystrix and stylophora pistillata from a fringing reef of sesoko island, okinawa, japan. the distribution of the fatty acids among the morphophysiologically distinct types of sd reported in these corals makes i ... | 2003 | 12482455 |
| characterization of superoxide dismutases in anoxia- and hyperoxia-tolerant symbiotic cnidarians. | many cnidarians, such as sea anemones, contain photosynthetic symbiotic dinoflagellates called zooxanthellae. during a light/dark cycle, the intratentacular o(2) state changes in minutes from hypoxia to hyperoxia (3-fold normoxia). to understand the origin of the high tolerance to these unusual oxic conditions, we have characterized superoxide dismutases (sods) from the three cellular compartments (ectoderm, endoderm and zooxanthellae) of the mediterranean sea anemone anemonia viridis. the lowes ... | 2003 | 12667614 |
| the use of coral nubbins in coral reef ecotoxicology testing. | while there is an urgent demand to establish reliable ecotoxicological assays for reef corals, there has not been yet an available source material that can supply the high number of colony replicates needed for reliable tests. in past experiments, the major obstacle to obtaining as many fragments as possible had been the damage inflicted to donor colonies by pruning. in this paper, we present the application of coral nubbins, a novel source material for coral ecotoxicology assays. nubbins from t ... | 2003 | 12919825 |
| effects of particulate matter released by a fish farm (eilat, red sea) on survival and growth of stylophora pistillata coral nubbins. | this field study aims to determine whether increased levels of organically enriched particulate matter released by net pen fish farms (eilat, red sea) would affect the growth of nubbins taken from the branching coral stylophora pistillata. we followed the survival and growth of 1322 nubbins pruned from five colonies that were transplanted at a depth of 6 m in the vicinity of the fish cages and in a reference site, in front of the interuniversity institute (iui). nubbins were attached on u-shaped ... | 2003 | 12932493 |
| photobehavior of stony corals: responses to light spectra and intensity. | tentacle expansion and contraction were investigated in four zooxanthellate coral species and one azooxanthellate coral (cladopsammia gracilis). favia favus, plerogyra sinuosa and cladopsammia gracilis expand their tentacles at night, while tentacles in goniopora lobata and stylophora pistillata are expanded continuously. light at wavelengths in the range 400-520 nm was most effective in eliciting full tentacle contraction in f. favus and in p. sinuosa. higher light intensities in the range 660- ... | 2003 | 14555744 |
| interactions between zooplankton feeding, photosynthesis and skeletal growth in the scleractinian coral stylophora pistillata. | we investigated the effect of zooplankton feeding on tissue and skeletal growth of the scleractinian coral stylophora pistillata. microcolonies were divided into two groups: starved corals (sc), which were not fed during the experiment, and fed corals (fc), which were abundantly fed with artemia salina nauplii and freshly collected zooplankton. changes in tissue growth, photosynthesis and calcification rates were measured after 3 and 8 weeks of incubation. calcification is the deposition of both ... | 2004 | 15037640 |
| photoinhibition, bleaching susceptibility and mortality in two scleractinian corals, platygyra ryukyuensis and stylophora pistillata, in response to thermal and light stresses. | in the present study, we examined the effect of thermal stress on the photoinhibitory light threshold in a bleaching susceptible (stylophora pistillata) and a bleaching resistant (platygyra ryukyuensis) coral. four light (0, 110, 520, 1015 micromol quantam(-2)s(-1)) and three temperature (26, 32 and 34 degrees c) conditions were used over a 3-h period, followed by 24- and 48-h recovery periods at approximately 21 degrees c under dim light. dynamic photoinhibition could be detected in both p. ryu ... | 2004 | 15123191 |
| molecular cloning and localization of a pmca p-type calcium atpase from the coral stylophora pistillata. | plasma-membrane calcium pumps (pmcas) are responsible for the expulsion of ca(2+) from the cytosol of all eukaryotic cells and are one of the major transport systems involved in long-term regulation of resting intracellular ca(2+) concentration. an important feature of stony corals, one of the major groups of calcifying animals, is the continuous export of large quantities of ca(2+) for skeletogenesis. here, we report the cloning and functional expression of the stppmca gene from the coral stylo ... | 2004 | 15157614 |
| nutrient enrichment caused by in situ fish farms at eilat, red sea is detrimental to coral reproduction. | recent studies report conflicting results concerning the effects of eutrophication on coral reproduction. the present study examines reproductive effort in the brooding coral stylophora pistillata exposed to chronic eutrophication caused by in situ fish cages (fc) in the northern gulf of eilat (aqaba). histological studies of 20 s. pistillata colonies transplanted to each of two study sites, one close to the nutrient enriched fc site and the other at a reference site (iui), 8 km southwest of the ... | 2004 | 15341829 |
| differential susceptibility to oxidative stress of two scleractinian corals: antioxidant functioning of mycosporine-glycine. | this study examined the importance of mycosporine-glycine (myc-gly) as a functional antioxidant in the thermal-stress susceptibility of two scleractinian corals, platygyra ryukyuensis and stylophora pistillata. photochemical efficiency of psii (f(v)/f(m)), activity of antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (sod) and catalase (cat), and composition and abundance of mycosporine-like amino acids (maas) in the coral tissue and in symbiotic zooxanthellae were analyzed during 12-h exposure to high ... | 2004 | 15581804 |
| symbiosis-induced adaptation to oxidative stress. | cnidarians in symbiosis with photosynthetic protists must withstand daily hyperoxic/anoxic transitions within their host cells. comparative studies between symbiotic (anemonia viridis) and non-symbiotic (actinia schmidti) sea anemones show striking differences in their response to oxidative stress. first, the basal expression of sod is very different. symbiotic animal cells have a higher isoform diversity (number and classes) and a higher activity than the non-symbiotic cells. second, the symbio ... | 2005 | 15634847 |
| nitrogen and photosynthetic function of hermatypic corals. oxygen exchange of stylophora pistillata coral under artificial feeding. | the change of stylophora pistillata coral photosynthetic function (oxygen exchange and biomass of symbionts) under starvation and food enrichment was studied to understand the role of heterotrophy in nitrogen supplements of zooxanthellae. the starvation caused the decrease of frequency of zooxanthellae cells division in 7-10 times. the number of degraded algae cells increased in same proportion and, as a result, the density of zooxanthellae in corals decreased about two times during one-two week ... | 2005 | 15859452 |
| soluble organic matrix of two scleractinian corals: partial and comparative analysis. | this study is a biochemical and molecular analysis of the soluble organic matrix (som) of two scleractinian corals differing in their morphological characteristics: stylophora pistillata, a branched robust coral and pavona cactus, a leafy complex coral. soluble organic matrix of both coral species were shown to contain high amounts of potentially acidic amino acids and glycine. however, proportions of glycosaminoglycans and sds-page analyses of soluble organic matrix proteins were very different ... | 2005 | 15982916 |
| requirement of water-flow for sustainable growth of pocilloporid corals during high temperature periods. | reef-building corals are threatened worldwide by mass-scale coral bleaching episodes that are pronounced in high sea surface temperature (sst) conditions. although water-flow has been suggested to be a mitigating factor for bleaching, long-term effects of flow-mediated bleaching suppression are as yet not fully understood. in order to investigate flow effects, we monitored the corals pocillopora damicornis and stylophora pistillata grown for 20 months in experimental outdoor flumes with the flow ... | 2005 | 16038946 |
| in vivo light-microscopic documentation for primary calcification processes in the hermatypic coral stylophora pistillata. | skeletogenesis in the hermatypic coral stylophora pistillata was studied by using the lateral skeleton preparative (lsp) assay, viz., a coral nubbin attached to a glass coverslip glued to the bottom of a petri dish. observations on tissue and skeletal growth were made by polarized microscopy and by using vital staining. the horizontal distal tissue edges developed thin transparent extensions of ectodermal and calicoblastic layers only. four stages (i-iv) of skeletogenesis were observed at these ... | 2006 | 16568301 |
| viruses: agents of coral disease? | the potential role of viruses in coral disease has only recently begun to receive attention. here we describe our attempts to determine whether viruses are present in thermally stressed corals pavona danai, acropora formosa and stylophora pistillata and zoanthids zoanthus sp., and their zooxanthellae. heat-shocked p. danai, a. formosa and zoanthus sp. all produced numerous virus-like particles (vlps) that were evident in the animal tissue, zooxanthellae and the surrounding seawater; vlps were al ... | 2006 | 16703772 |
| branch to colony trajectory in a modular organism: pattern formation in the indo-pacific coral stylophora pistillata. | the architecture of the colony in a branching coral is an iterative process in which new layers of calcium carbonate compile atop existing structures that remain unchanged. colony growth and development, known as astogeny, is believed to be a continuous process, characterized by replication of lower rank unites, polyps, and branches. this study seeks to explore the genetic blueprint of branch-to-colony developmental trajectory in the branching coral stylophora pistillata, within an astogeny peri ... | 2006 | 16788967 |
| study of calcification during a daily cycle of the coral stylophora pistillata: implications for 'light-enhanced calcification'. | this work, performed on the scleractinian coral stylophora pistillata, aims at providing new information on the 'light-enhanced calcification' process. in a first step, in controlled conditions of culture and constant light supply, we studied the diurnal cycle of calcification. we determined that calcification rates are constant during the day and the night with a 2.6-fold difference between day and night calcification rates. we also showed that the photosynthetic rate is constant throughout the ... | 2006 | 16916976 |
| evidence of low molecular weight components in the organic matrix of the reef building coral, stylophora pistillata. | biominerals contain both inorganic and organic components. organic components are collectively termed the organic matrix, and this matrix has been reported to play a crucial role in mineralization. several matrix proteins have been characterized in vertebrates, but only a few in invertebrates, primarily in molluscs and echinoderms. methods classically used to extract organic matrix proteins eliminate potential low molecular weight matrix components, since cut-offs ranging from 3.5 to 10 kda are ... | 2007 | 17499533 |
| how plastic can phenotypic plasticity be? the branching coral stylophora pistillata as a model system. | phenotypic plasticity enables multicellular organisms to adjust morphologies and various life history traits to variable environmental challenges. here, we elucidate fixed and plastic architectural rules for colony astogeny in multiple types of colonial ramets, propagated by cutting from genets of the branching coral stylophora pistillata from eilat, the red sea. we examined 16 morphometric parameters on 136 one-year old s. pistillata colonies (of seven genotypes), originating from small fragmen ... | 2007 | 17653271 |
| effects of temperature and uv radiation increases on the photosynthetic efficiency in four scleractinian coral species. | experiments were performed on coral species containing clade a (stylophora pistillata, montipora aequituberculata) or clade c (acropora sp., pavona cactus) zooxanthellae. the photosynthetic efficiency (f(v)/f(m)) of the corals was first assessed during a short-term increase in temperature (from 27 degrees c to 29 degrees c, 32 degrees c, and 34 degrees c) and acute exposure to uv radiation (20.5 w m(-2) uva and 1.2 w m(-2) uvb) alone or in combination. increasing temperature to 34 degrees c sign ... | 2007 | 17679722 |
| short and long term toxicity of crude oil and oil dispersants to two representative coral species. | oil dispersants, the tool of choice for treating oil spills in tropical marine environments, is potentially harmful to marine life, including reef corals. in a previous study, we found that dispersed oil and oil dispersants are harmful to soft and hard coral species at early life stages. in this broader study, we employed a "nubbin assay" on more than 10 000 coral fragments to evaluate the short- and long-term impacts of dispersed oil fractions (dofs) from six commercial dispersants, the dispers ... | 2007 | 17822134 |
| niche partitioning of closely related symbiotic dinoflagellates. | reef-building corals are fundamental to the most diverse marine ecosystems, yet a detailed understanding of the processes involved in the establishment, persistence and ecology of the coral-dinoflagellate association remains largely unknown. this study explores symbiont diversity in relation to habitat by employing a broad-scale sampling regime using its2 and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. samples from pocillopora damicornis, stylophora pistillata and seriatopora hystrix all harboured ... | 2007 | 17845444 |
| local scale genetic structure in coral populations: a signature of selection. | coastal marine reserves in general, and coral reef reserves in particular, are typically composed of scattered patches separated by uninhabited areas. due to the sessile mode of life of adult corals, larval connectivity is often the only agent of gene flow between reef localities. in this study we examined the connectivity between populations of the common scleratinian coral stylophora pistillata at the northern tip of the gulf of aqaba (red sea), using the rdna its (internal transcribed spacer) ... | 2008 | 18155069 |
| uptake of dissolved free amino acids by the scleractinian coral stylophora pistillata. | this study was designed to assess the importance of dissolved free amino acids (dfaa) as a nitrogen source for the scleractinian coral stylophora pistillata. for this purpose, experiments were performed using (15)n-enriched dfaas, and %(15)n enrichment was measured both in animal tissue and zooxanthellae at different dfaa concentrations, incubation time and light levels. as previously observed for urea, which is another source of organic nitrogen, dfaa uptake exhibited a biphasic mode consisting ... | 2008 | 18310111 |
| cloning and use of a coral 36b4 gene to study the differential expression of coral genes between light and dark conditions. | this paper aims to validate reference genes for gene expression studies between light and dark conditions in the scleractinian coral stylophora pistillata for future gene expression studies of the "light-enhanced calcification" phenomenon. for this purpose, we cloned, sequenced, and characterized a candidate reference gene, the 36b4 gene from the coral s. pistillata, and validated 36b4 and beta-actin as reference genes. to illustrate the future applications of these reference genes, we tested th ... | 2008 | 18425549 |
| coral kin aggregations exhibit mixed allogeneic reactions and enhanced fitness during early ontogeny. | aggregated settlement of kin larvae in sessile marine invertebrates may result in a complex array of compatible and incompatible allogeneic responses within each assemblage. each such aggregate can, therefore, be considered as a distinct self-organizing biological entity representing adaptations that have evolved to maximize the potential benefits of gregarious settlement. however, only sparse information exists on the selective forces and ecological consequences of allogeneic coalescence. | 2008 | 18447918 |
| unique mitogenomic features in the scleractinian family pocilloporidae (scleractinia: astrocoeniina). | the complete dna sequences of three mitochondrial (mt) genomes were obtained from the scleractinian corals, stylophora pistillata, pocillopora damicornis, and madracis mirabilis, and were compared to the published mt genomes to elucidate phylogenetically unique features of the family pocilloporidae. the entire mt genomes of pocilloporid corals ranged from 16,951 to 17,425 bp with the a+t contents of their sense strands ranging from 68.4% to 70.2%. the gene order of protein-coding genes was ident ... | 2008 | 18478295 |
| effects of natural gas condensate - water accommodated fraction on coral larvae. | the toxic effects of the water accommodated fraction (waf) of a natural gas condensate on the larvae of five brooding coral species of the family pocilloporidae were examined in short term (96 h) bioassays. lethality was observed in some larvae of seriatopora hystrix and seriatopora guttatus upon exposure to high concentrations of the condensate waf, while those of stylophora pistillata, pocillopora damicornis and pocillopora verrucosa did not experience mortality. furthermore, increasing concen ... | 2008 | 18572200 |
| calcification and associated physiological parameters during a stress event in the scleractinian coral stylophora pistillata. | high calcification rates observed in reef coral organisms are due to the symbiotic relationship established between scleractinian corals and their photosynthetic dinoflagellates, commonly called zooxanthellae. zooxanthellae are known to enhance calcification in the light, a process referred as "light-enhanced calcification". the disruption of the relationship between corals and their zooxanthellae leads to bleaching. bleaching is one of the major causes of the present decline of coral reefs rela ... | 2008 | 18606553 |
| carbonic anhydrase in the scleractinian coral stylophora pistillata: characterization, localization, and role in biomineralization. | carbonic anhydrases (ca) play an important role in biomineralization from invertebrates to vertebrates. previous experiments have investigated the role of ca in coral calcification, mainly by pharmacological approaches. this study reports the molecular cloning, sequencing, and immunolocalization of a ca isolated from the scleractinian coral stylophora pistillata, named stpca. results show that stpca is a secreted form of alpha-ca, which possesses a ca catalytic function, similar to the secreted ... | 2008 | 18617510 |
| feeding sustains photosynthetic quantum yield of a scleractinian coral during thermal stress. | thermal resistance of the coral-zooxanthellae symbiosis has been associated with chronic photoinhibition, increased antioxidant activity and protein repair involving high demands of nitrogen and energy. while the relative importance of heterotrophy as a source of nutrients and energy for cnidarian hosts, and as a means of nitrogen acquisition for their zooxanthellae, is well documented, the effect of feeding on the thermal sensitivity of the symbiotic association has been so far overlooked. here ... | 2008 | 18618148 |
| bleaching susceptibility and mortality of corals are determined by fine-scale differences in symbiont type. | coral bleaching has been identified as one of the major contributors to coral reef decline, and the occurrence of different symbionts determined by broad genetic groupings (clades a-h) is commonly used to explain thermal responses of reef-building corals. by using stylophora pistillata as a model, we monitored individual tagged colonies in situ over a two-year period and show that fine level genetic variability within clade c is correlated to differences in bleaching susceptibility. based on den ... | 2008 | 18645181 |
| diversity and evolution of coral fluorescent proteins. | gfp-like fluorescent proteins (fps) are the key color determinants in reef-building corals (class anthozoa, order scleractinia) and are of considerable interest as potential genetically encoded fluorescent labels. here we report 40 additional members of the gfp family from corals. there are three major paralogous lineages of coral fps. one of them is retained in all sampled coral families and is responsible for the non-fluorescent purple-blue color, while each of the other two evolved a full com ... | 2008 | 18648549 |
| effect of temperature on the settlement choice and photophysiology of larvae from the reef coral stylophora pistillata. | to better understand the consequences of climate change for scleractinian corals, stylophora pistillata was used to test the effects of temperature on the settlement and physiology of coral larvae. freshly released larvae were exposed to temperatures of 23 degrees c, 25 degrees c (ambient), and 29 degrees c at light intensities of approximately 150 micromol photons m(-2) s(-1). the effects were assessed after 12 h as settlement to various substrata (including a choice between crustose coralline ... | 2008 | 18840774 |
| critical evaluation of branch polarity and apical dominance as dictators of colony astogeny in a branching coral. | the high morphological resemblance between branching corals and trees, can lead to comparative studies on pattern formation traits, best exemplified in plants and in some cnidarians. here, 81 branches of similar size of the hermatypic coral stylophora pistillata were lopped of three different genets, their skeletons marked with alizarin red-s, and divided haphazardly into three morphometric treatment groups: (i) upright position; (ii) horizontal position, intact tip; and (iii) horizontal positio ... | 2009 | 19119311 |
| carbonic anhydrase inhibitors: inhibition studies of a coral secretory isoform with inorganic anions. | the inhibition of a coral carbonic anhydrase (ca, ec 4.2.1.1) has been investigated with a series of inorganic anions such as halogenides, pseudohalogenides, bicarbonate, carbonate, nitrate, nitrite, hydrogen sulfide, bisulfite, perchlorate, sulfate. the full-length scleractinian coral stylophora pistillata ca, stpca, has a significant catalytic activity for the physiological reaction of co(2) hydration to bicarbonate, similarly to the ubiquitous human isoforms hca i (cytosolic) and hca vi (secr ... | 2009 | 19121582 |
| palythine-threonine, a major novel mycosporine-like amino acid (maa) isolated from the hermatypic coral pocillopora capitata. | using a high-resolution reverse-phase liquid chromatography method we found that the tissues of the hermatypic coral pocillopora capitata (collected in santiago bay, mexico) contain a high diversity of primary and secondary mycosporine-like amino acids (maas) typical of some reef-building coral species: mycosporine-glycine, shinorine, porphyra-334, mycosporine-methylamine-serine, mycosporine-methylamine-threonine, palythine-serine, palythine and one additional novel predominant maa, with an abso ... | 2009 | 19128981 |
| cellular pathology and histopathology of hypo-salinity exposure on the coral stylophora pistillata. | coral reefs can experience extreme salinity changes, particularly hypo-salinity, as a result of storms, heavy rainy seasons (e.g., monsoons), and coastal runoff. field and laboratory observations have documented that corals exposed to hypo-saline conditions can undergo extensive bleaching and mortality. there is controversy in the literature as to whether hypo-saline conditions induce a pathological response in corals, and if there is a relationship between decreasing salinity treatment and path ... | 2009 | 19515401 |
| carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. inhibition studies of a coral secretory isoform by sulfonamides. | the inhibition of a newly cloned coral carbonic anhydrase (ca, ec 4.2.1.1) has been investigated with a series of sulfonamides, including some clinically used derivatives (acetazolamide, methazolamide, ethoxzolamide, dichlorophenamide, dorzolamide, brinzolamide, benzolamide, and sulpiride, or indisulam, a compound in clinical development as antitumor drug), as well as the sulfamate antiepileptic topiramate. some simple amino-/hydrazine-/hydroxy-substituted aromatic/heterocyclic sulfonamides have ... | 2009 | 19520577 |
| imaging intracellular ph in a reef coral and symbiotic anemone. | the challenges corals and symbiotic cnidarians face from global environmental change brings new urgency to understanding fundamental elements of their physiology. intracellular ph (phi) influences almost all aspects of cellular physiology but has never been described in anthozoans or symbiotic cnidarians, despite its pivotal role in carbon concentration for photosynthesis and calcification. using confocal microscopy and the ph sensitive probe carboxy snarf-1, we mapped phi in short-term light an ... | 2009 | 19720994 |
| influence of species specificity and other factors on bacteria associated with the coral stylophora pistillata in taiwan. | species of bacteria associated with stylophora pistillata were determined by analyses of 16s ribosomal genes. coral samples were taken from two distinct sites at kenting, in the far south of taiwan; three coral colonies at each site were tagged and sampled in the winter and summer of 2007. six hundred 16s rrna gene clones were selected and sequenced for diversity analysis and community comparison. libshuff and nonparametric multiple dimensional scaling analyses showed variations in the compositi ... | 2009 | 19854921 |
| assembled catalog of immune-related genes from allogeneic challenged corals that unveils the participation of vwf-like transcript. | while reef-building corals portray highly complex and specific allorecognition responses, still, no available synthesis on historecognition at the molecular level exists for this group of organisms. here, we present the first subtractive library of expressed sequence tags (ests) from allogeneic challenged coral (stylophora pistillata) colonies revealing the differential expression of a wide range of immune-related genes. 1760 unique ests were clustered and assembled into 230 contigs and 1530 sin ... | 2010 | 20080125 |
| mounting of erratic histoincompatible responses in hermatypic corals: a multi-year interval comparison. | studies on allorecognition in the phylum cnidaria have disclosed complex arrays of effector mechanisms, specificity and competency to distinguish precisely between self and non-self attributes, and have revealed the existence of allogeneic maturity. here we studied allo-responses between young stylophora pistillata colonies by following 517 allogeneic interactions between naturally settled kin aggregates and by establishing 417 forced allogeneic and autogeneic assays made of solitarily settled s ... | 2010 | 20118303 |
| extracellular production and degradation of superoxide in the coral stylophora pistillata and cultured symbiodinium. | reactive oxygen species (ros) are thought to play a major role in cell death pathways and bleaching in scleractinian corals. direct measurements of ros in corals are conspicuously in short supply, partly due to inherent problems with ros quantification in cellular systems. | 2010 | 20856857 |
| paracoccus stylophorae sp. nov., isolated from the reef-building coral stylophora pistillata. | a bacterial strain designated ktw-16(t) was isolated from the reef-building coral stylophora pistillata, collected from southern taiwan and was characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. strain ktw-16(t) was gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, pale-yellow colored, short rod-shaped, and non-motile. phylogenetic analyses based on 16s rrna gene sequences showed that strain ktw-16(t) belonged to the genus paracoccus in the alphaproteobacteria. sequence similarities to type strains of t ... | 2010 | 20935084 |
| vibrio stylophorae sp. nov., isolated from the reef-building coral stylophora pistillata. | a bacterial strain designated ktw-12t was isolated from the reef-building coral in kenting, taiwan and was characterized using the polyphasic taxonomic approach. strain ktw-12t was gram negative, semitransparent, slightly curved rod-shaped, and non-motile. growth occured at 15-35°c (optimum, 30 °c), at ph 6.0-9.0 (optimum, ph 7.0-8.0), and with 0.5-6 % nacl (optimum, 2 %). the major cellular fatty acids were summed feature 3 (c16:1ω7c and/or c16:1ω6c), c14:0 and c16:0. the dna g+c content was 47 ... | 2010 | 20935089 |
| the spectral quality of light is a key driver of photosynthesis and photoadaptation in stylophora pistillata colonies from different depths in the red sea. | depth zonation on coral reefs is largely driven by the amount of downwelling, photosynthetically active radiation (par) that is absorbed by the symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) of corals. the minimum light requirements of zooxanthellae are related to both the total intensity of downwelling par and the spectral quality of the light. here we used stylophora pistillata colonies collected from shallow (3 m) and deep (40 m) water; colonies were placed in a respirometer under both ambient par irradianc ... | 2010 | 21075950 |
| shallow-water wave lensing in coral reefs: a physical and biological case study. | wave lensing produces the highest level of transient solar irradiances found in nature, ranging in intensity over several orders of magnitude in just a few tens of milliseconds. shallow coral reefs can be exposed to wave lensing during light-wind, clear-sky conditions, which have been implicated as a secondary cause of mass coral bleaching through light stress. management strategies to protect small areas of high-value reef from wave-lensed light stress were tested using seawater irrigation spri ... | 2010 | 21113012 |
| carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. inhibition studies with anions and sulfonamides of a new cytosolic enzyme from the scleractinian coral stylophora pistillata. | the catalytic activity and the inhibition of a new coral carbonic anhydrase (ca, ec 4.2.1.1), from the scleractinian coral stylophora pistillata, stpca-2, has been investigated. stpca-2 has high catalytic activity for the physiological reaction being less sensitive to anion and sulfonamide inhibitors compared to stpca, a coral enzyme previously described. the best stpca-2 anion inhibitors were sulfamide, sulfamic acid, phenylboronic acid, and phenylarsonic acid (k(i)s of 5.7-67.2μm) whereas the ... | 2010 | 21208801 |
| nutritional resources as positional information for morphogenesis in the stony coral stylophora pistillata. | we are interested in deciphering the mechanisms for morphogenesis in the red sea scleractinian coral stylophora pistillata with the help of mathematical models. previous mathematical models for coral morphogenesis assume that skeletal growth is proportional to the amount of locally available energetic resources like diffusible nutrients and photosynthetic products. we introduce a new model which includes factors like dissolved nutrients and photosynthates, but these resources do not serve as bui ... | 2011 | 21277860 |
| a new coral carbonic anhydrase in stylophora pistillata. | scleractinian corals are of particular interest due to their ability to establish an intracellular mutualistic symbiosis with phototrophic dinoflagellates and to deposit high rates of calcium carbonate in their skeleton. carbonic anhydrases have been shown to play a crucial role in both processes. in this study, we report the molecular cloning and characterization of a novel a-ca in the coral stylophora pistillata. this enzyme shares homologies with the human isoform ca ii and is referred to as ... | 2011 | 21318259 |
| effects of flow and colony morphology on the thermal boundary layer of corals. | the thermal microenvironment of corals and the thermal effects of changing flow and radiation are critical to understanding heat-induced coral bleaching, a stress response resulting from the destruction of the symbiosis between corals and their photosynthetic microalgae. temperature microsensor measurements at the surface of illuminated stony corals with uneven surface topography (leptastrea purpurea and platygyra sinensis) revealed millimetre-scale variations in surface temperature and thermal ... | 2011 | 21602322 |
| live tissue imaging shows reef corals elevate ph under their calcifying tissue relative to seawater. | the threat posed to coral reefs by changes in seawater ph and carbonate chemistry (ocean acidification) raises the need for a better mechanistic understanding of physiological processes linked to coral calcification. current models of coral calcification argue that corals elevate extracellular ph under their calcifying tissue relative to seawater to promote skeleton formation, but ph measurements taken from the calcifying tissue of living, intact corals have not been achieved to date. we perform ... | 2011 | 21637757 |
| high phosphate uptake requirements of the scleractinian coral stylophora pistillata. | several untested aspects of the regulation of inorganic nutrient uptake were examined using nutrient depletion experiments with the symbiotic coral stylophora pistillata. the total inhibition of phosphate uptake in artificial seawater lacking sodium indicates the involvement of a sodium/phosphate symporter for the uptake of phosphate across host membranes. addition of ammonium or nitrate (up to 6.0 µmol l(-1)) did not enhance saturated phosphate uptake rates, thus indicating that corals, or thei ... | 2011 | 21795572 |
| effects of temperature on the respiration of brooded larvae from tropical reef corals. | this study describes the effects of temperature on the respiration of brooded larvae of scleractinian corals, and evaluates the implications of these effects relative to seawater temperature when peak larval release occurs. respiration rates of larvae from pocillopora damicornis, seriatopora hystrix and stylophora pistillata were quantified in darkness as oxygen uptake during 1-3 h exposures to five temperatures between 26.4 and 29.6°c. to assess the biological significance of these experiments, ... | 2011 | 21795577 |
| Assessing the effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (Aroclor 1254) on a scleractinian coral (Stylophora pistillata) at organism, physiological, and molecular levels. | Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of widespread contaminants, and accumulation of PCBs has been observed in corals in the field. However, the toxic effects of PCBs on corals have not been investigated. In this study, we tested short and long term toxicity of Aroclor 1254, a commercial PCB mixture, on the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata. Coral nubbins were incubated in either control seawater or seawater dosed with PCBs (approximately 300ng/L) for 96h. The effect of PCB expos ... | 2012 | 21937113 |
| incongruence between morphotypes and genetically delimited species in the coral genus stylophora: phenotypic plasticity, morphological convergence, morphological stasis or interspecific hybridization? | abstract: background: morphological data suggest that, unlike most other groups of marine organisms, scleractinian corals of the genus stylophora are more diverse in the western indian ocean and in the red sea than in the central indo-pacific. however, the morphology of corals is often a poor predictor of their actual biodiversity: hence, we conducted a genetic survey of stylophora corals collected in madagascar, okinawa, the philippines and new caledonia in an attempt to find out the true numb ... | 2011 | 21970706 |
| Oceanicaulis stylophorae sp. nov., isolated from the reef-building coral Stylophora pistillata. | A bacterial strain designated GISW-4T was isolated from the reef-building coral Stylophora pistillata, collected from the seawater off coast of Southern Taiwan and was characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Strain GISW-4T was Gram-negative, aerobic, beige colored, rod-shaped, and dimorphic, with stalks (or prosthecae) and non-motile or non-stalked and motile, by monopolar flagella. The 16S rRNA gene sequence studies showed that the novel strain was closely clustered with Oceanicaul ... | 2011 | 22081721 |
| Regulation of Apoptotic Pathways by Stylophora pistillata (Anthozoa, Pocilloporidae) to Survive Thermal Stress and Bleaching. | Elevated seawater temperatures are associated with coral bleaching events and related mortality. Nevertheless, some coral species are able to survive bleaching and recover. The apoptotic responses associated to this ability were studied over 3 years in the coral Stylophora pistillata from the Gulf of Eilat subjected to long term thermal stress. These include caspase activity and the expression profiles of the S. pistillata caspase and Bcl-2 genes (StyCasp and StyBcl-2-like) cloned in this study. ... | 2011 | 22194880 |
| effects of light, food availability and temperature stress on the function of photosystem ii and photosystem i of coral symbionts. | reef corals are heterotrophic coelenterates that achieve high productivity through their photosynthetic dinoflagellate symbionts. excessive seawater temperature destabilises this symbiosis and causes corals to "bleach," lowering their photosynthetic capacity. bleaching poses a serious threat to the persistence of coral reefs on a global scale. despite expanding research on the causes of bleaching, the mechanisms remain a subject of debate. | 2012 | 22253915 |
| maternal-larval population genetic traits in stylophora pistillata, a hermaphroditic brooding coral species. | aspects of maternal-planula larval genetics in the monoecious scleractinian coral stylophora pistillata (red sea, eilat) were studied by amplified fragment length polymorphism (aflp) methodology in two successive reproductive seasons. in total, 293 planulae and 10 adult colonies were analyzed. in june 2006, 147 planulae were collected from 10 shallow water colonies. in march, april and june 2007, 146 additional planulae were sampled from five of the ten 2006 sampled colonies. all aflp products s ... | 2011 | 22552536 |
| the influence of photosynthesis on host intracellular ph in scleractinian corals. | the regulation of intracellular ph (phi) is a fundamental aspect of cell physiology that has received little attention in studies of reef-building corals and symbiotic cnidarians. here, we investigated the hypothesis that dynamic changes in the phi of coral host cells are controlled by the photosynthetic activity of the coral's dinoflagellate symbionts. using live cell imaging and the ph-sensitive dye snarf-1, we tracked ph in symbiont-containing and symbiont-free cells isolated from the reef co ... | 2012 | 23264485 |
| impact of seawater acidification on ph at the tissue-skeleton interface and calcification in reef corals. | insight into the response of reef corals and other major marine calcifiers to ocean acidification is limited by a lack of knowledge about how seawater ph and carbonate chemistry impact the physiological processes that drive biomineralization. ocean acidification is proposed to reduce calcification rates in corals by causing declines in internal ph at the calcifying tissue-skeleton interface where biomineralization takes place. here, we performed an in vivo study on how partial-pressure co(2)-dri ... | 2012 | 23277567 |