| settlement-competency period of planulae and genetic differentiation of the scleractinian coral acropora digitifera. | broadcast-spawning corals expel eggs and sperm, and the fertilized eggs develop into planulae in the water column. as these sessile corals generally disperse during the planktonic larval stage, their larval characteristics (e.g., survival and settlement rates) are thought to be important for their dispersal. although some studies of coral larval dispersal have focused on the maximum time that larvae can remain viable and settle, the relevance of this maximum settlement competency period for long ... | 2005 | 15846048 |
| genetic connectivity in the broadcast-spawning coral acropora digitifera analyzed by microsatellite markers on the sekisei reef, southwestern japan. | worldwide decline has been observed in coral populations due to environmental changes at both regional and global levels. since corals have a typical metapopulation structure, the recovery of severely disturbed local populations depends on larval recruitment from outside the disturbed region. therefore, the connectivity among local populations may play a key role in the disturbance/ recovery dynamics of coral populations. on the basis of the simulation of surface currents, derived from ocean cur ... | 2009 | 19341342 |
| inhibition of streptococcus pyogenes biofilm formation by coral-associated actinomycetes. | streptococcus pyogenes biofilms tend to exhibit significant tolerance to antimicrobials during infections. we screened coral-associated actinomycetes (caa) for antibiofilm activity against different biofilm forming m serotype of streptococcus pyogenes. actinomycetes isolated from the mucus of the coral acropora digitifera were screened for antibiofilm activity against s. pyogenes biofilms wherein several isolates clearly demonstrated antibiofilm activity. the biofilm inhibitory concentrations (b ... | 2010 | 20020301 |
| phylogenetic characterization of culturable actinomycetes associated with the mucus of the coral acropora digitifera from gulf of mannar. | the marine environment is a virtually untapped source of novel actinomycete diversity and its metabolites. investigating the diversity of actinomycetes in other marine macroorganisms, like seaweeds and sponges, have resulted in isolation of novel bioactive metabolites. actinomycetes diversity associated with corals and their produced metabolites have not yet been explored. hence, in this study we attempted to characterize the culturable actinomycetes population associated with the coral acropora ... | 2010 | 21105906 |
| expression of hsp70, hsp90 and hsf1 in the reef coral acropora digitifera under prospective acidified conditions over the next several decades. | ocean acidification is an ongoing threat for marine organisms due to the increasing atmospheric co(2) concentration. seawater acidification has a serious impact on physiologic processes in marine organisms at all life stages. on the other hand, potential tolerance to external ph changes has been reported in coral larvae. information about the possible mechanisms underlying such tolerance responses, however, is scarce. in the present study, we examined the effects of acidified seawater on the lar ... | 2011 | 23213399 |
| anti-pathogenic potential of coral associated bacteria isolated from gulf of mannar against pseudomonas aeruginosa. | infections of pseudomonas aeruginosa are of great concern because of its increasing resistance towards conventional antibiotics. quorum sensing system of p. aeruginosa acts as a global regulator of almost all the virulence factors and majorly its biofilm formation. in the present study, quenching of qs system of p. aeruginosa has been explained with bioactives from bacteria associated with the coral acropora digitifera. isolated bioactives inhibited the expression of various virulence traits of ... | 2012 | 24426087 |
| transcriptome deep-sequencing and clustering of expressed isoforms from favia corals. | genomic and transcriptomic sequence data are essential tools for tackling ecological problems. using an approach that combines next-generation sequencing, de novo transcriptome assembly, gene annotation and synthetic gene construction, we identify and cluster the protein families from favia corals from the northern red sea. | 2013 | 23937070 |
| kegg orthology-based annotation of the predicted proteome of acropora digitifera: zoophytebase - an open access and searchable database of a coral genome. | contemporary coral reef research has firmly established that a genomic approach is urgently needed to better understand the effects of anthropogenic environmental stress and global climate change on coral holobiont interactions. here we present kegg orthology-based annotation of the complete genome sequence of the scleractinian coral acropora digitifera and provide the first comprehensive view of the genome of a reef-building coral by applying advanced bioinformatics. | 2013 | 23889801 |
| exceptionally high cumulative percentage of numts originating from linear mitochondrial dna molecules in the hydra magnipapillata genome. | in contrast to most animal genomes, mitochondrial genomes in species belonging to the phylum cnidaria show distinct variations in genome structure, including the mtdna structure (linear or circular) and the presence or absence of introns in protein-coding genes. therefore, the analysis of nuclear insertions of mitochondrial sequences (numts) in cnidarians allows us to compare the numt content in animals with different mitochondrial genome structures. | 2013 | 23826818 |
| antibiofilm activity of biosurfactant producing coral associated bacteria isolated from gulf of mannar. | coral associated bacteria (cab) (n = 22) isolated from the mucus of the coral acropora digitifera were screened for biosurfactants using classical screening methods; hemolysis test, lipase production, oil displacement, drop collapse test and emulsifying activity. six cab (u7, u9, u10, u13, u14, and u16) were found to produce biosurfactants and were identified by 16s ribosomal rna gene sequencing as providencia rettgeri, psychrobacter sp., bacillus flexus, bacillus anthracis, psychrobacter sp., a ... | 2014 | 25320434 |
| chromera velia is endosymbiotic in larvae of the reef corals acropora digitifera and a. tenuis. | scleractinian corals occur in symbiosis with a range of organisms including the dinoflagellate alga, symbiodinium, an association that is mutualistic. however, not all symbionts benefit the host. in particular, many organisms within the microbial mucus layer that covers the coral epithelium can cause disease and death. other organisms in symbiosis with corals include the recently described chromera velia, a photosynthetic relative of the apicomplexan parasites that shares a common ancestor with ... | 2013 | 23063731 |
| deep-sequencing method for quantifying background abundances of symbiodinium types: exploring the rare symbiodinium biosphere in reef-building corals. | the capacity of reef-building corals to associate with environmentally-appropriate types of endosymbionts from the dinoflagellate genus symbiodinium contributes significantly to their success at local scales. additionally, some corals are able to acclimatize to environmental perturbations by shuffling the relative proportions of different symbiodinium types hosted. understanding the dynamics of these symbioses requires a sensitive and quantitative method of symbiodinium genotyping. electrophores ... | 2014 | 24728373 |
| a microrna regulates the response of corals to thermal stress. | coral reefs are diverse ecosystems of great ecological and economic importance. however, corals are vulnerable to a variety of stressors, including rising seawater temperatures, and yet little is known about the genetic mechanisms underlying their survival and adaptation to stress. like other animals, corals possess genes for key members of the microrna (mirna) machinery. mirnas are short rnas that regulate diverse cellular processes, including organismal stress response, through post-transcript ... | 2017 | 28370585 |
| canonical and cellular pathways timing gamete release in acropora digitifera, okinawa, japan. | natural light cycles are important for synchronizing behavioural and physiological rhythms over varying time periods in both plants and animals. an endogenous clock, regulated by positive and negative elements, interacting in feedback loops controls these rhythms. many corals exhibit diel cycles of polyp expansion and contraction entrained by solar light patterns and monthly cycles of spawning or planulation that correspond to nocturnal lunar light cycles. however, despite considerable interest ... | 2017 | 28214372 |
| acropora digitifera encodes the largest known family of fluorescent proteins that has persisted during the evolution of acropora species. | fluorescent proteins (fps) are well known and broadly used as bio-imaging markers in molecular biology research. many fp genes were cloned from anthozoan species and it was suggested that multi-copies of these genes are present in their genomes. however, the full complement of fp genes in any single coral species remained unidentified. in this study, we analyzed the fp genes in two stony coral species. fp cdna sequences from acropora digitifera and acropora tenuis revealed the presence of a mult ... | 2016 | 27920057 |
| the mesoderm-forming gene brachyury regulates ectoderm-endoderm demarcation in the coral acropora digitifera. | blastoporal expression of the t-box transcription factor gene brachyury is conserved in most metazoans [1, 2]. its role in mesoderm formation has been intensively studied in vertebrates [3-6]. however, its fundamental function near the blastopore is poorly understood in other phyla. cnidarians are basal metazoans that are important for understanding evolution of metazoan body plans [7, 8]. because they lack mesoderm, they have been used to investigate the evolutionary origins of mesoderm [1, 9-1 ... | 2016 | 27693135 |
| stepwise evolution of coral biomineralization revealed with genome-wide proteomics and transcriptomics. | despite the importance of stony corals in many research fields related to global issues, such as marine ecology, climate change, paleoclimatogy, and metazoan evolution, very little is known about the evolutionary origin of coral skeleton formation. in order to investigate the evolution of coral biomineralization, we have identified skeletal organic matrix proteins (somps) in the skeletal proteome of the scleractinian coral, acropora digitifera, for which large genomic and transcriptomic datasets ... | 2016 | 27253604 |
| the transcriptomic response of the coral acropora digitifera to a competent symbiodinium strain: the symbiosome as an arrested early phagosome. | despite the ecological significance of the relationship between reef-building corals and intracellular photosynthetic dinoflagellates of the genus symbiodinium, very little is known about the molecular mechanisms involved in its establishment. indeed, microarray-based analyses point to the conclusion that host gene expression is largely or completely unresponsive during the establishment of symbiosis with a competent strain of symbiodinium. in this study, the use of illumina rna-seq technology a ... | 2016 | 27094992 |
| distribution of cpg motifs in upstream gene domains in a reef coral and sea anemone: implications for epigenetics in cnidarians. | coral reefs are under assault from stressors including global warming, ocean acidification, and urbanization. knowing how these factors impact the future fate of reefs requires delineating stress responses across ecological, organismal and cellular scales. recent advances in coral reef biology have integrated molecular processes with ecological fitness and have identified putative suites of temperature acclimation genes in a scleractinian coral acropora hyacinthus. we wondered what unique charac ... | 2016 | 26950882 |
| developmental progression in the coral acropora digitifera is controlled by differential expression of distinct regulatory gene networks. | corals belong to the most basal class of the phylum cnidaria, which is considered the sister group of bilaterian animals, and thus have become an emerging model to study the evolution of developmental mechanisms. although cell renewal, differentiation, and maintenance of pluripotency are cellular events shared by multicellular animals, the cellular basis of these fundamental biological processes are still poorly understood. to understand how changes in gene expression regulate morphogenetic tran ... | 2016 | 26941230 |
| genome-wide snp analysis explains coral diversity and recovery in the ryukyu archipelago. | following a global coral bleaching event in 1998, acropora corals surrounding most of okinawa island (oi) were devastated, although they are now gradually recovering. in contrast, the kerama islands (kis) only 30 km west of oi, have continuously hosted a great variety of healthy corals. taking advantage of the decoded acropora digitifera genome and using genome-wide snp analyses, we clarified acropora population structure in the southern ryukyu archipelago (sra). despite small genetic distances, ... | 2015 | 26656261 |
| genetic diversity of fluorescent protein genes generated by gene duplication and alternative splicing in reef-building corals. | reef-building corals (scleractinia) exhibit various colors, of which fluorescent proteins (fps) are a major determinant. gene duplication is considered a major mechanism in the generation of the fp gene family and color diversity. examining gene duplication events and subsequent evolution may improve our understanding of fp gene family diversity. | 2015 | 26605068 |
| gene duplications are extensive and contribute significantly to the toxic proteome of nematocysts isolated from acropora digitifera (cnidaria: anthozoa: scleractinia). | gene duplication followed by adaptive selection is a well-accepted process leading to toxin diversification in venoms. however, emergent genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic evidence now challenges this role to be at best equivocal to other processess . cnidaria are arguably the most ancient phylum of the extant metazoa that are venomous and such provide a definitive ancestral anchor to examine the evolution of this trait. | 2015 | 26464356 |
| de novo assembly and characterization of four anthozoan (phylum cnidaria) transcriptomes. | many nonmodel species exemplify important biological questions but lack the sequence resources required to study the genes and genomic regions underlying traits of interest. reef-building corals are famously sensitive to rising seawater temperatures, motivating ongoing research into their stress responses and long-term prospects in a changing climate. a comprehensive understanding of these processes will require extending beyond the sequenced coral genome (acropora digitifera) to encompass diver ... | 2015 | 26384772 |
| the insect chemoreceptor superfamily is ancient in animals. | the insect chemoreceptor superfamily consists of 2 gene families, the highly diverse gustatory receptors (grs) found in all arthropods with sequenced genomes and the odorant receptors that evolved from a gr lineage and have been found only in insects to date. here, i describe relatives of the insect chemoreceptor superfamily, specifically the basal gr family, in diverse other animals, showing that the superfamily dates back at least to early animal evolution. gr-like (grl) genes are present in t ... | 2015 | 26354932 |
| effect of elevated temperature on fecundity and reproductive timing in the coral acropora digitifera. | the synchrony of spawning is of paramount importance to successful coral reproduction. the precise timing of spawning is thought to be controlled by a set of interacting environmental factors, including regional wind field patterns, timing of the sunset, and sea surface temperatures (sst). climate change is resulting in increased sst, which is causing physiological stress in corals and could also be altering spawning synchrony and timing. in this study, we examined the effect of increasing seawa ... | 2016 | 26349407 |
| colony-specific investigations reveal highly variable responses among individual corals to ocean acidification and warming. | as anthropogenic climate change is an ongoing concern, scientific investigations on its impacts on coral reefs are increasing. although impacts of combined ocean acidification (oa) and temperature stress (t) on reef-building scleractinian corals have been studied at the genus, species and population levels, there are little data available on how individual corals respond to combined oa and anomalous temperatures. in this study, we exposed individual colonies of acropora digitifera, montipora dig ... | 2015 | 26009841 |
| comparative 16s rrna signatures and multilocus sequence analysis for the genus salinicola and description of salinicola acroporae sp. nov., isolated from coral acropora digitifera. | a novel gram-negative, aerobic, motile marine bacterium, strain s4-41(t), was isolated from mucus of the coral acropora digitifera from the andaman sea. heterotrophic growth was observed in 0-25 % nacl, at 15-45 °c and ph 4.5-9. in phylogenetic trees, strain s4-41(t) was grouped within the genus salinicola but formed a separate branch distant from a cluster composed of salinicola salarius m27(t) and salinicola socius smb35(t). dna-dna relatedness between strain s4-41(t) and these reference strai ... | 2015 | 25944083 |
| reef-coral refugia in a rapidly changing ocean. | this study sought to identify climate-change thermal-stress refugia for reef corals in the indian and pacific oceans. a species distribution modeling approach was used to identify refugia for 12 coral species that differed considerably in their local response to thermal stress. we hypothesized that the local response of coral species to thermal stress might be similarly reflected as a regional response to climate change. we assessed the contemporary geographic range of each species and determine ... | 2015 | 25646684 |
| trehalose is a chemical attractant in the establishment of coral symbiosis. | coral reefs have evolved with a crucial symbiosis between photosynthetic dinoflagellates (genus symbiodinium) and their cnidarian hosts (scleractinians). most coral larvae take up symbiodinium from their environment; however, the earliest steps in this process have been elusive. here we demonstrate that the disaccharide trehalose may be an important signal from the symbiont to potential larval hosts. symbiodinium freshly isolated from fungia scutaria corals constantly released trehalose (but not ... | 2015 | 25629699 |
| microsatellite abundance across the anthozoa and hydrozoa in the phylum cnidaria. | microsatellite loci have high mutation rates and thus are indicative of mutational processes within the genome. by concentrating on the symbiotic and aposymbiotic cnidarians, we investigated if microsatellite abundances follow a phylogenetic or ecological pattern. individuals from eight species were shotgun sequenced using 454 gs-flx titanium technology. sequences from the three available cnidarian genomes (nematostella vectensis, hydra magnipapillata and acropora digitifera) were added to the a ... | 2014 | 25346285 |
| a genomic approach to coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis: studies of acropora digitifera and symbiodinium minutum. | far more intimate knowledge of scleractinian coral biology is essential in order to understand how diverse coral-symbiont endosymbioses have been established. in particular, molecular and cellular mechanisms enabling the establishment and maintenance of obligate endosymbiosis with photosynthetic dinoflagellates require further clarification. by extension, such understanding may also shed light upon environmental conditions that promote the collapse of this mutualism. genomic data undergird studi ... | 2014 | 25071748 |
| cryopreservation of acropora digitifera sperm with use of sucrose and methanol based solution. | coral biodiversity has recently been considered an important topic in environmental studies. biodiversity could be preserved with successful cryopreservation of endangered species gametes or embryos. herein, we developed cryopreservation protocols for acropora digitifera sperm with use of sucrose and methanol based extender. we studied cryopreservation of a. digitifera sperm with floating frames, allowing the placement of 250 μl french straws 4 cm above the liquid nitrogen surface, resulting in ... | 2014 | 24974821 |
| evolution of tnf-induced apoptosis reveals 550 my of functional conservation. | the precambrian explosion led to the rapid appearance of most major animal phyla alive today. it has been argued that the complexity of life has steadily increased since that event. here we challenge this hypothesis through the characterization of apoptosis in reef-building corals, representatives of some of the earliest animals. bioinformatic analysis reveals that all of the major components of the death receptor pathway are present in coral with high-predicted structural conservation with homo ... | 2014 | 24927546 |
| comparison of the effects of thermal stress and co₂-driven acidified seawater on fertilization in coral acropora digitifera. | global warming (gw) and ocean acidification (oa) have been recognized as severe threats for reef-building corals that support coral reef ecosystems, but these effects on the early life history stage of corals are relatively unknown compared with the effects on calcification of adult corals. in this study, we evaluated the effects of thermal stress and co2-driven acidified seawater on fertilization in a reef-building coral, acropora digitifera. the fertilization rates of a. digitifera decreased i ... | 2015 | 24847859 |
| telomere shortening in the colonial coral acropora digitifera during development. | to test whether telomere length can be used in estimating the age of colonial corals, we used terminal restriction fragment (trf) length analysis to compare the telomere lengths of the coral acropora digitifera at three developmental stages: sperm, planula larvae, and polyps of adult colonies. we also compared the mean trf lengths between branches at the center and periphery of tabular colonies of a. digitifera. a significant difference was observed in the mean trf lengths in sperm, planulae, an ... | 2014 | 24601774 |
| coral architecture affects the habitat choice and form of associated gobiid fishes. | gobiid fishes of the genus gobiodon live in strong association with certain reef-building corals that vary considerably in size and architecture. these fishes hence are excellent model systems for studying evolutionary adaption to specific microhabitats. using a sample of gobiodon histrio and g. rivulatus and their most important host corals (acropora digitifera and a. gemmifera) from the northern red sea, we assess (1) how corals that are occupied by gobies differ in their architecture from col ... | 2014 | 24587541 |
| a snapshot of a coral "holobiont": a transcriptome assembly of the scleractinian coral, porites, captures a wide variety of genes from both the host and symbiotic zooxanthellae. | massive scleractinian corals of the genus porites are important reef builders in the indo-pacific, and they are more resistant to thermal stress than other stony corals, such as the genus acropora. because coral health and survival largely depend on the interaction between a coral host and its symbionts, it is important to understand the molecular interactions of an entire "coral holobiont". we simultaneously sequenced transcriptomes of porites australiensis and its symbionts using the illumina ... | 2014 | 24454815 |
| adhesion networks of cnidarians: a postgenomic view. | cell-extracellular matrix (ecm) and cell-cell adhesion systems are fundamental to the multicellularity of metazoans. members of phylum cnidaria were classified historically by their radial symmetry as an outgroup to bilaterian animals. experimental study of hydra and jellyfish has fascinated zoologists for many years. laboratory studies, based on dissection, biochemical isolations, or perturbations of the living organism, have identified the ecm layer of cnidarians (mesoglea) and its components ... | 2014 | 24411175 |
| marinegenomicsdb: an integrated genome viewer for community-based annotation of genomes. | we constructed a web-based genome annotation platform, marinegenomicsdb, to integrate genome data from various marine organisms including the pearl oyster pinctada fucata and the coral acropora digitifera. this newly developed viewer application provides open access to published data and a user-friendly environment for community-based manual gene annotation. development on a flexible framework enables easy expansion of the website on demand. to date, more than 2000 genes have been annotated usin ... | 2013 | 24125644 |
| temporal variations in metabolic and autotrophic indices for acropora digitifera and acropora spicifera--implications for monitoring projects. | coral health indices are important components of the management assessments of coral reefs, providing insight into local variation in reef condition, as well as tools for comparisons between reefs and across various time scales. understanding how such health indices vary in space and time is critical to their successful implementation as management tools. here we compare autotrophic and heterotrophic coral health indices, examining specifically the temporal variation driven by the local environm ... | 2013 | 23696848 |
| control of aragonite deposition in colonial corals by intra-skeletal macromolecules. | scleractinian coral skeletons are composed mainly of aragonite in which a small percentage of organic matrix (om) molecules is entrapped. it is well known that in corals the mineral deposition occurs in a biological confined nucleation site, but it is still unclear to what extent the calcification is controlled by om molecules. hence, the shape, size and organization of skeletal crystals from the fiber level through the colony architecture, were also attributed to factors as diverse as nucleatio ... | 2013 | 23669627 |
| which environmental factors predict seasonal variation in the coral health of acropora digitifera and acropora spicifera at ningaloo reef? | the impact of physico-chemical factors on percent coral cover and coral health was examined on a spatial basis for two dominant acropora species, a. digitifera and a. spicifera, at ningaloo reef (north-western australia) in the southeast indian ocean. coral health was investigated by measuring metabolic indices (rna/dna ratio and protein concentration), energy levels (lipid ratio) and autotrophic indices (chlorophyll a (chl a) and zooxanthellae density) at six stations during typical seasons (au ... | 2013 | 23637770 |
| probing a coral genome for components of the photoprotective scytonemin biosynthetic pathway and the 2-aminoethylphosphonate pathway. | genome sequences of the reef-building coral, acropora digitifera, have been decoded. acropora inhabits an environment with intense ultraviolet exposure and hosts the photosynthetic endosymbiont, symbiodinium. acropora homologs of all four genes necessary for biosynthesis of the photoprotective cyanobacterial compound, shinorine, are present. among metazoans, these genes are found only in anthozoans. to gain further evolutionary insights into biosynthesis of photoprotective compounds and associat ... | 2013 | 23434798 |
| microscopic observation of symbiotic and aposymbiotic juvenile corals in nutrient-enriched seawater. | symbiotic and aposymbiotic juvenile corals, which were grown in the laboratory from the gametes of the scleractinian coral acropora digitifera and had settled down onto plastic culture plates, were observed with a microscope under different nutrient conditions. the symbiotic corals successfully removed the surrounding benthic microalgae (bma), whereas the aposymbiotic corals were in close physical contact with bma. the areal growth rate of the symbiotic corals was significantly higher than that ... | 2013 | 23324544 |
| the cytochrome p450 genesis locus: the origin and evolution of animal cytochrome p450s. | the neighbourhoods of cytochrome p450 (cyp) genes in deuterostome genomes, as well as those of the cnidarians nematostella vectensis and acropora digitifera and the placozoan trichoplax adhaerens were examined to find clues concerning the evolution of cyp genes in animals. cyp genes created by the 2r whole genome duplications in chordates have been identified. both microsynteny and macrosynteny were used to identify genes that coexisted near cyp genes in the animal ancestor. we show that all 11 ... | 2013 | 23297357 |
| a genome-wide survey of photoreceptor and circadian genes in the coral, acropora digitifera. | corals exhibit circadian behaviors, but little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of these behaviors. we surveyed the recently decoded genome of the coral, acropora digitifera, for photoreceptor and circadian genes, using molecular phylogenetic analyses. our search for photoreceptor genes yielded seven opsin and three cryptochrome genes. two genes from each family likely underwent tandem duplication in the coral lineage. we also found the following a. digitifera or ... | 2013 | 23266624 |
| study of cnidarian-algal symbiosis in the "omics" age. | the symbiotic associations between cnidarians and dinoflagellate algae (symbiodinium) support productive and diverse ecosystems in coral reefs. many aspects of this association, including the mechanistic basis of host-symbiont recognition and metabolic interaction, remain poorly understood. the first completed genome sequence for a symbiotic anthozoan is now available (the coral acropora digitifera), and extensive expressed sequence tag resources are available for a variety of other symbiotic co ... | 2012 | 22983032 |
| the complex nod-like receptor repertoire of the coral acropora digitifera includes novel domain combinations. | innate immunity in corals is of special interest not only in the context of self-defense but also in relation to the establishment and collapse of their obligate symbiosis with dinoflagellates of the genus symbiodinium. in innate immunity system of vertebrates, approximately 20 tripartite nucleotide oligomerization domain (nod)-like receptor proteins that are defined by the presence of a naip, ciia, het-e and tp1 (nacht) domain, a c-terminal leucine-rich repeat (lrr) domain, and one of three typ ... | 2013 | 22936719 |
| the repertoire of chemical defense genes in the coral acropora digitifera genome. | scleractinian corals are of fundamental ecological significance in tropical and sub-tropical shallow water. this ecological success is attributed to their ability of formation of obligate endosymbioses with dinoflagellates of the genus symbiodinium. nevertheless, approximately one-third of reef-building coral species are critically endangered and the remainder are under threat from the effects of climate change and local impacts. molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in stress responses and ... | 2012 | 22873809 |
| coral comparative genomics reveal expanded hox cluster in the cnidarian-bilaterian ancestor. | the key developmental role of the hox cluster of genes was established prior to the last common ancestor of protostomes and deuterostomes and the subsequent evolution of this cluster has played a major role in the morphological diversity exhibited in extant bilaterians. despite 20 years of research into cnidarian hox genes, the nature of the cnidarian-bilaterian ancestral hox cluster remains unclear. in an attempt to further elucidate this critical phylogenetic node, we have characterized the ho ... | 2012 | 22767488 |
| fluorescent protein candidate genes in the coral acropora digitifera genome. | the vivid coloration of corals depends on fluorescent proteins that include cyan (cfp), green (gfp) and red (rfp) fluorescent proteins, and a non-fluorescent blue/purple chromoprotein. we examined how many genes encoding fluorescent proteins are present in the recently sequenced genome of the coral acropora digitifera. based on molecular phylogenetic analysis, we found one, five, one, and three candidate genes for cfp, gfp, rfp, and chromoprotein, respectively. the cfp and gfp genes are clustere ... | 2012 | 22468836 |
| a genomewide survey of bhlh transcription factors in the coral acropora digitifera identifies three novel orthologous families, pearl, amber, and peridot. | decoding the genome of the coral, acropora digitifera, enabled us to characterize a nearly full set of 70 basic helix-loop-helix (bhlh) transcription factors in this organism. this number is comparable to 68 bhlh genes in the sea anemone, nematostella vectensis, and larger than those in most other invertebrate metazoans. the 70 bhlh genes were assigned to 29 orthologous families previously reported. in addition, we identified three novel hlh orthologous families, which we designated pearl, amber ... | 2012 | 22419240 |
| the population genetic approach delineates the species boundary of reproductively isolated corymbose acroporid corals. | in this study, we used a population genetic approach with microsatellite markers to attempt to clarify the species boundary of acropora corals. species in this taxon are usually difficult to distinguish with the usual molecular phylogenetic approach. we used acropora sp. 1 and acropora digitifera as the target species to shed light on the species boundary of acropora at the population level. these species are morphologically and ecologically similar but are reproductively isolated by differences ... | 2012 | 22293155 |
| using the acropora digitifera genome to understand coral responses to environmental change. | despite the enormous ecological and economic importance of coral reefs, the keystone organisms in their establishment, the scleractinian corals, increasingly face a range of anthropogenic challenges including ocean acidification and seawater temperature rise. to understand better the molecular mechanisms underlying coral biology, here we decoded the approximately 420-megabase genome of acropora digitifera using next-generation sequencing technology. this genome contains approximately 23,700 gene ... | 2011 | 21785439 |
| culture independent characterization of bacteria associated with the mucus of the coral acropora digitifera from the gulf of mannar. | corals are sessile eukaryotic hosts which provide a unique surface for microbial colonization. culture independent studies show that the coral mucus and tissue harbour diverse and abundant prokaryotic communities. however, little is known about the diversity of bacteria associated with the corals of gulf of mannar. the present study characterised the bacterial diversity associated with the mucus of the coral acropora digitifera from the gulf of mannar by 16s rrna gene clone library construction. ... | 2011 | 25187139 |
| coral larvae under ocean acidification: survival, metabolism, and metamorphosis. | ocean acidification may negatively impact the early life stages of some marine invertebrates including corals. although reduced growth of juvenile corals in acidified seawater has been reported, coral larvae have been reported to demonstrate some level of tolerance to reduced ph. we hypothesize that the observed tolerance of coral larvae to low ph may be partly explained by reduced metabolic rates in acidified seawater because both calcifying and non-calcifying marine invertebrates could show me ... | 2011 | 21264208 |
| gene flow and genetic diversity of a broadcast-spawning coral in northern peripheral populations. | recently, reef-building coral populations have been decreasing worldwide due to various disturbances. population genetic studies are helpful for estimating the genetic connectivity among populations of marine sessile organisms with metapopulation structures such as corals. moreover, the relationship between latitude and genetic diversity is informative when evaluating the fragility of populations. in this study, using highly variable markers, we examined the population genetics of the broadcast- ... | 2010 | 20585399 |
| phylogenetic characterization of culturable bacterial diversity associated with the mucus and tissue of the coral acropora digitifera from the gulf of mannar. | corals, considered the rainforests of the oceans, harbour an abundance of different bacterial populations throughout the coral structure. in the present study we attempted to characterize the cultivable bacterial population associated within the mucus and tissue of the coral acropora digitifera from the gulf of mannar. 16s rrna gene was amplified from the cultured mucus and tissue isolates. amplified ribosomal dna restriction analysis, performed with a combination of restriction enzymes to deter ... | 2009 | 19619231 |
| in vitro fertilization efficiency in coral acropora digitifera. | we performed fertilization experiments with acropora digitifera, which is one of the dominant scleractinian corals in the ryukyu archipelago, japan, to determine optimal conditions for in vitro manipulations. our result suggests that conspecific fertilization is essentially complete within 30 min under the experimental conditions used in usual fertilization experiments in corals. previous in vitro experiments (1 x 10(5)-10(6) sperm/ml, 4-8 h) are likely to have overestimated the efficiency of fe ... | 2009 | 19397839 |
| roles of calmodulin and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase in flagellar motility regulation in the coral acropora digitifera. | in the corals acropora spp., eggs secrete substances that induce sperm motility regulation. an elevation of intracellular ph ([ph]i) and a regulation of intracellular ca(2+) concentration ([ca(2+)]) are involved in the sperm motility regulation cascade. however, the detailed molecular aspects of flagellar motility regulation have not been fully demonstrated in acropora. in this study, we determined the presence and roles of both calmodulin (cam) and calcium/calmodulin dependent-protein kinase (c ... | 2013 | 18661183 |
| eggs regulate sperm flagellar motility initiation, chemotaxis and inhibition in the coral acropora digitifera, a. gemmifera and a. tenuis. | corals perform simultaneous mass spawning around the full moon. most acropora species release gamete bundles, which are a complex of eggs and sperm, into the seawater. then, gamete bundles are separated into eggs and sperm. eggs are fertilized when sperm and eggs come in contact with each other. however, it is still unclear how sperm meet the eggs of the same species in the presence of many eggs of different species and how eggs guard against the fertilization attempts by sperm of different spec ... | 2006 | 17079727 |
| repair machinery of symbiotic photosynthesis as the primary target of heat stress for reef-building corals. | in a coral-algae symbiotic system, heat-dependent photoinhibition of photosystem ii (psii) leads to coral bleaching. when the reef-building coral acropora digitifera was exposed to light, a moderate increase of temperature induced coral bleaching through photobleaching of algal pigments, but not through expulsion of symbiotic algae. monitoring of psii photoinhibition revealed that heat-dependent photoinhibition was ascribed to inhibition of the repair of photodamaged psii, and heat susceptibilit ... | 2004 | 14988497 |