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 anthoz...

Live coral is harvested throughout the Indo-West Pacific to make lime, used in the consumption of the world's fourth-most consumed drug, betel nut. Coral harvesting is an environmental concern; however, because lime-making is one of the few sources of income in some areas of Papua New Guinea (PNG), the practice is unlikely to stop. To better manage coral harvest, we used standard fishery-yield ...

Citation: Quigley KM, Bay LK and Willis BL (2017) Temperature and Water Quality-Related Patterns in Sediment-Associated Symbiodinium Communities Impact Symbiont Uptake and Fitness of Juveniles in the Genus Acropora. Front. Mar. Sci. 4:401. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2017.00401 Temperature and Water Quality-Related Patterns in Sediment-Associated Symbiodinium Communities Impact Symbiont Uptake and Fitne...

Elevated sea surface temperatures in the late 1990s were associated with widespread coral mortality in the Arabian Gulf, particularly in Acropora dominated areas. This study investigates the composition, condition, and recruitment patterns of coral communities in Saih AlShaib, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, a decade after mass bleaching. Five statistically distinct communities were identiWed by c...

We propose 'the moving target hypothesis' to describe the aetiology of a contemporary coral disease that differs from that of its historical disease state. Hitting the target with coral disease aetiology is a complex pursuit that requires understanding of host and environment, and may lack a single pathogen solution. White pox disease (WPX) affects the Caribbean coral Acropora palmata. Acropori...

Cyclone Yasi, one of the most severe tropical storms on record, crossed the central Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in February 2011, bringing wind speeds of up to 285 km hr⁻¹ and wave heights of at least 10 m, and causing massive destruction to exposed reefs in the Palm Island Group. Following the cyclone, mean (± S.E.) hard coral cover ranged from just 2.1 (0.2) % to 5.3 (0.4) % on exposed reefs and...

OBJECTIVES To compare the therapeutic potential of tissue-engineered constructs (TECs) combining mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and coral granules from either Acropora or Porites to repair large bone defects. MATERIALS AND METHODS Bone marrow-derived, autologous MSCs were seeded on Acropora or Porites coral granules in a perfusion bioreactor. Acropora-TECs (n = 7), Porites-TECs (n = 6) and bon...

One characteristic of Indo-Pacific Acropora spp. is extremely high diversity in rDNA sequences at both the species and individual levels. In order to test the hypothesis that pseudogenes may contribute to this diversity, three kinds of analyses were conducted. First, for A. millepora (the species containing the most diverse suite of rDNA types), RT-PCR was used to determine which 5.8S rDNA type...

Coral bleaching, triggered by elevated sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) has caused a decline in coral cover and changes in the abundances of corals on reefs worldwide. Coral decline can be exacerbated by the effects of local stressors like turbidity, yet some reefs with a natural history of turbidity can support healthy and resilient coral communities. However, little is known about responses of...