Does Coral Disease Affect Symbiodinium? Investigating the Impacts of Growth Anomaly on Symbiont Photophysiology

John Henrik Robert Burns, Toni Makani Gregg and Misaki Takabayashi

PLOS ONE, 2013, vol. 8, issue 8, 1-

Abstract: Growth anomaly (GA) is a commonly observed coral disease that impairs biological functions of the affected tissue. GA is prevalent at Wai ‘ōpae tide pools, southeast Hawai ‘i Island. Here two distinct forms of this disease, Type A and Type B, affect the coral, Montipora capitata. While the effects of GA on biology and ecology of the coral host are beginning to be understood, the impact of this disease on the photophysiology of the dinoflagellate symbiont, Symbiodinium spp., has not been investigated. The GA clearly alters coral tissue structure and skeletal morphology and density. These tissue and skeletal changes are likely to modify not only the light micro-environment of the coral tissue, which has a direct impact on the photosynthetic potential of Symbiodinium spp., but also the physiological interactions within the symbiosis. This study utilized Pulse amplitude modulation fluorometry (PAM) to characterize the photophysiology of healthy and GA-affected M. capitata tissue. Overall, endosymbionts within GA-affected tissue exhibit reduced photochemical efficiency. Values of both Fv/Fm and ΔF/ Fm’ were significantly lower (p

Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0072466

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0072466

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