| fine-scale diversity and specificity in the most prevalent lineage of symbiotic dinoflagellates (symbiodinium, dinophyceae) of the caribbean. | the success of coral reefs is due to obligate mutualistic symbioses involving invertebrates and photosynthetic dinoflagellate symbionts belonging to the genus symbiodinium. in the caribbean, the vast majority of octocorals and other invertebrate hosts associate with symbiodinium clade b, and more selectively, with a single lineage of this clade, symbiodinium b1/b184. although b1/b184 represents the most prevalent symbiodinium in the caribbean, there is little evidence supporting fine-scale diver ... | 2004 | 14717900 |
| the rise and fall of a six-year coral-fungal epizootic. | drivers of disease cycles are poorly understood in marine ecosystems in spite of increasing outbreaks. we monitored a newly emerged fungal epizootic (aspergillosis) affecting sea fan corals (gorgonia ventalina l.) in the florida keys to evaluate causes of its rise and fall over 6 years. since august 1997, aspergillosis has nearly eradicated large sea fans at some sites. however, sea fan densities have remained relatively constant due to episodic recruitment replacing large fans with small. recru ... | 2004 | 15540141 |
| stable symbiodinium composition in the sea fan gorgonia ventalina during temperature and disease stress. | like most caribbean octocorals, gorgonia ventalina, the common sea fan, harbors endosymbiotic dinoflagellates belonging to the genus symbiodinium. when stressed, the host can lose these algal symbionts, a phenomenon termed "bleaching." many cnidarians host multiple types of algal symbionts within the genus symbiodinium, and certain types of algae may be more tolerant of stress than others. we examined the effects of temperature, temperature-induced bleaching, and infection by aspergillus sydowii ... | 2005 | 16382170 |
| changes in the microbial communities associated with gorgonia ventalina during aspergillosis infection. | the surface mucopolysaccharide layer (sml) secreted by corals is a rich environment where bacteria live and proliferate, with population levels often being several orders of magnitude higher than in the surrounding waters (at least for culturable microbes). some studies have suggested that these communities play an important role in energy and nutrient flux in marine environments. we hypothesize that the microbial community structure of the sml also plays a role in protection against disease. th ... | 2006 | 16703770 |
| longitudinal study of aspergillosis in sea fan corals. | aspergillosis (a fungal disease) is affecting sea fan corals gorgonia spp. throughout the caribbean. to measure the impact of this disease, we established longitudinal, or in other words individual-based, monitoring studies on 3 reefs in the florida keys, usa, to obtain estimates of incidence, rates of disease progress, recovery, and mortality. at western dry rocks (near key west), 40 gorgonia ventalina colonies (20 initially healthy and 20 initially diseased) were photo-monitored between june 1 ... | 2006 | 16703771 |
| peroxidase activity and inducibility in the sea fan coral exposed to a fungal pathogen. | the enzymatic defense mechanisms of gorgonia ventalina to the fungal pathogen aspergillus sydowii may play important roles in colony resistance to infection. in this study, we examined the role of the superfamily of peroxidase enzymes in the coral response to a naturally occurring pathogen. we examined the inducibility of peroxidases by experimentally exposing corals to a. sydowii and found that peroxidase activity was induced after an 8 day incubation period. in contrast, naturally infected cor ... | 2007 | 17064941 |
| within-host disease ecology in the sea fan gorgonia ventalina: modeling the spatial immunodynamics of a coral-pathogen interaction. | we develop a spatially explicit model for the within-host interactions between a fungal pathogen and the immune response by its coral host. the model is parameterized for the recent epizootic of aspergillus sydowii in the sea fan gorgonia ventalina, but its structure is adaptable to many other diseases attacking corals worldwide, fungal infections in other invertebrates and plants, and opportunistic fungal infections in vertebrates. model processes include pathogen growth and spread through cons ... | 2007 | 18171161 |
| spatial variability of disease incidence and mortality in the sea fan gorgonia ventalina in puerto rico (alcyonacea: goorgoniidae). | populations of the common sea fan (gorgonia ventalina) were decimated by an aspergillosis outbreak throughout the caribbean two decades ago. since then, aspergillosis has been considered as the principal cause of mortality in sea fans. however, prevalence and presumably incidence of this disease have been declining in the caribbean since the mid 1990s. incidence indicates new cases of disease in previously healthy colonies, while prevalence indicates percent of diseased colonies at a given sampl ... | 2012 | 23894925 |
| aspergillosis in the common sea fan gorgonia ventalina: isolation of waterborne hyphae and spores. | the octocoral disease aspergillosis is caused by the terrestrial fungus aspergillus sydowii. the possibility of secondary (horizontal) transmission of aspergillosis among common sea fans gorgonia ventalina would require waterborne transmission of hyphae and/or spores. a laboratory filtration experiment confirmed that fungal hyphae and spores were shed into the water by infected fans. this suggests that secondary infection might be possible in this species. it remains to be determined whether hea ... | 2014 | 24991852 |
| investigating bermuda's pollution history through stable isotope analyses of modern and museum-held gorgonian corals. | for centuries, bermuda has been challenged with wastewater management for the protection of human and environmental health. by quantifying the δ(15)n of the common sea fan gorgonia ventalina sampled from 30 sites throughout bermuda we show that sewage-derived nitrogen is detectable on nearshore coral reefs and declines across the lagoon to the outer rim. we also sampled gorgonians from two museum collections representing a 50y time-series (1958-2008). these samples revealed an increase in δ(15)n ... | 2017 | 27600272 |
| the role of coral colony health state in the recovery of lesions. | coral disease literature has focused, for the most part, on the etiology of the more than 35 coral afflictions currently described. much less understood are the factors that underpin the capacity of corals to regenerate lesions, including the role of colony health. this lack of knowledge with respect to the factors that influence tissue regeneration significantly limits our understanding of the impact of diseases at the colony, population, and community level. in this study, we experimentally co ... | 2016 | 26788423 |
| pathological effects of cyanobacteria on sea fans in southeast florida. | in early august 2008, observations by divers indicated that sea fans, particularly gorgonia ventalina, gorgonia flabellum, and iciligorgia schrammi, were being covered by benthic filamentous cyanobacteria. from august 2008 through january 2009 and again in april 2009, tissue samples from a targeted g. ventalina colony affected by cyanobacteria and from a nearby, apparently healthy (without cyanobacteria) control colony, were collected monthly for histopathological examination. the primary cellul ... | 2015 | 25958261 |
| persistent shifts in caribbean coral microbiota are linked to the 2010 warm thermal anomaly. | the response of corals to warm temperature anomalies includes changes in coral bacterial assemblages. there are clear differences between the microbiota of bleached and healthy corals. however, few studies have tracked the microbiota of individual colonies throughout a warming event. we used 454 pyrosequencing and repeated measures to characterize bacterial assemblages in 15 gorgonia ventalina colonies before, during, 4 months after, and 1 year after the 2010 caribbean warm thermal anomaly. in t ... | 2015 | 25683053 |
| natural prey preferences and spatial variability of predation pressure by cyphoma gibbosum (mollusca: gastropoda) on octocoral communities off la parguera, puerto rico. | this study evaluated the natural prey preferences and spatial variability of predation pressure (pp = proportion of colonies with snails and/or clear predation signs) by the gastropod cyphoma gibbosum on octocoral communities off the la parguera natural reserve, puerto rico. all octocoral colonies were checked for presence of c. gibbosum and/or clear predation signs in four permanent band-transects (2 × 10 m), along three depth intervals (0-5, 7-12, >15 m deep) in each of six reefs along an insh ... | 2014 | 27433523 |
| immune response of the caribbean sea fan, gorgonia ventalina, exposed to an aplanochytrium parasite as revealed by transcriptome sequencing. | coral reef communities are undergoing marked declines due to a variety of stressors including disease. the sea fan coral, gorgonia ventalina, is a tractable study system to investigate mechanisms of immunity to a naturally occurring pathogen. functional studies in gorgonia ventalina immunity indicate that several key pathways and cellular components are involved in response to natural microbial invaders, although to date the functional and regulatory pathways remain largely un-described. this st ... | 2013 | 23898300 |
| immune response to a pathogen in corals. | the sea fan coral (gorgonia ventalina), one of the most abundant gorgonians in the tropical and subtropical atlantic waters, have suffered several diseases that have diminished its abundance throughout their range. in this study, we present a model that analyzes the capacity of g. ventalina to eradicate a micro-pathogen under three immune responses: strong, moderate, and very weak. the model assumes that: (1) polyps are the main unit of the coral; (2) the population of polyps is homogeneously di ... | 2013 | 23659851 |
| range-wide population genetic structure of the caribbean sea fan coral, gorgonia ventalina. | the population structure of benthic marine organisms is of central relevance to the conservation and management of these often threatened species, as well as to the accurate understanding of their ecological and evolutionary dynamics. a growing body of evidence suggests that marine populations can be structured over short distances despite theoretically high dispersal potential. yet the proposed mechanisms governing this structure vary, and existing empirical population genetic evidence is of in ... | 2013 | 23171044 |
| friend or foe: the association of labyrinthulomycetes with the caribbean sea fan gorgonia ventalina. | a new syndrome in sea fans gorgonia ventalina consisting of multifocal purple spots (mfps) has been observed in the caribbean sea. surveys of mfps on sea fans were conducted from 2006 to 2010 at a shallow and deep site in la parguera, puerto rico (pr). at the shallow site, mfps increased between 2006 and 2010 (site average ranged from 8 to 23%), with differences found at depths over time using an analysis of covariance (ancova, p < 0.0001). as a potential causative agent we examined a labyrinthu ... | 2012 | 23047186 |
| range-wide population genetic structure of symbiodinium associated with the caribbean sea fan coral, gorgonia ventalina. | numerous marine invertebrates form endosymbiotic relationships with dinoflagellates of the genus symbiodinium, yet few studies have examined the population structure of these symbionts. here, we elucidate the population genetic structure of symbiodinium harboured by the caribbean octocoral gorgonia ventalina throughout the entire range of the host. we used ten microsatellite loci to survey 35 localities spanning 3124 km across the caribbean and western atlantic. diversity of symbiodinium haploty ... | 2011 | 21545573 |
| [structure and injuries of octocoral communities (octocorallia: alcyonacea) of ecological reserve siboney-juticí, santiago de cuba, cuba]. | in the spur-and-groove reefs of the ecological reserve siboney-juticí (southeast cuba) octocorals are one of the predominant components of the sessile fauna. main objectives of the present paper are characterizing the composition, structure and conservation status of the octocoral communities and assessing on the prevailing environmental conditions in the study area. for data collection, six sampling sites were located every 2-3 km ranging from 12 m to 17 m depth along the spur-and-groove reefs. ... | 2010 | 21250476 |
| spatial variability in distribution and prevalence of caribbean scleractinian coral and octocoral diseases. ii. genera-level analysis. | geographic assessments of coral/octocoral diseases affecting major reef-building genera and abundant reef species are important to understand their local and geographic spatial-temporal variability and their impact. the status and spatial variability of major caribbean coral/octocoral diseases affecting important reef-building coral (montastraea, diploria, siderastrea, stephanocoenia, porites, and agaricia) and common, widespread octocoral genera (gorgonia and pseudopterogorgia) was assessed alo ... | 2009 | 19402454 |
| isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in the caribbean sea fan coral, gorgonia ventalina. | here we report primers for 10 microsatellite loci from the caribbean sea fan coral, gorgonia ventalina. primers were tested on 237 genomic dna extracts taken directly from tissue samples of g. ventalina. all loci were polymorphic with allelic richness ranging from 4 to 52. expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.14 to 0.96. preliminary data suggest that these microsatellites will be useful tools for studies of the population genetics of this important caribbean coral species. | 2009 | 21564831 |
| isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in symbiodinium b1/b184, the dinoflagellate symbiont of the caribbean sea fan coral, gorgonia ventalina. | here we report primers targeting 10 microsatellite loci of dinoflagellates in the genus symbiodinium (clade b1/b184) symbiotic with the caribbean sea fan coral, gorgonia ventalina. primers were tested on 12 symbiodinium b1/b184 cultures, as well as 40 genomic dna extracts of g. ventalina tissue samples. all loci were polymorphic with allelic richness ranging from 4-16. gene diversity ranged from 0.15 to 0.91. these primers provide powerful tools for examining the fine-scale population structure ... | 2009 | 21564815 |
| comment on "determination of carotenoid as the purple pigment in gorgonia ventalina sclerites using raman spectroscopy" [leverette et al., spectrochim. acta a, 69 (2008) 1058-1061]. | | 2008 | 18573687 |
| determination of carotenoid as the purple pigment in gorgonia ventalina sclerites using raman microscopy. | the production of purple pigment in gorgonian sclerites in response to biotic insults has been used to determine the disease state of these organisms. the chemical nature of the pigment present in the sclerites has until now been unknown. using raman microscopy, it was determined that this pigment is a carotenoid with a polyene chain containing between 14 and 15 carbon double bonds. | 2008 | 17716942 |
| phospholipid fatty acid composition of gorgonia mariae and gorgonia ventalina. | the phospholipid fatty acid composition of the caribbean gorgonians gorgonia mariae (bayer) and gorgonia ventalina (linnaeus) is described for the first time. the main phospholipids identified were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidylserine. the main fatty acids were 14:0, 16:0, 18:3(n-6), 18:4(n-3), 18:2(n-6), 20:4(n-6), 22:6(n-3), and 24:5(n-6). in both g. mariae and g. ventalina n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids predominated over the n-3 family. in addition, the 7-met ... | 2002 | 11742761 |