Dataset: Results from qPCR assays to quantify the abundance and photochemical performance of symbionts relative to coral cells in three coral species collected from colonies in southeast Florida in April and October 2019 before, during, and after heat stress tests

Final no updates expectedDOI: 10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.918220.1Version 1 (2024-01-22)Dataset Type:Other Field Results

Principal Investigator: Andrew Baker (University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science)

Co-Principal Investigator: Ross Cunning (Shedd Aquarium)

Student: Daisy Buzzoni (University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science)

BCO-DMO Data Manager: Shannon Rauch (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)


Project: Collaborative Research: Assessing the changing symbiotic milieu on Caribbean coral reefs under climate change: magnitude, tradeoffs, interventions, and implications (Symbiont Shifts on Reefs)


Abstract

This dataset contains results from assays to quantify the abundance and photochemical performance of Breviolum, Cladocopium, and Durusdinium symbionts relative to coral cells in Montastraea cavernosa, Orbicella faveolata, and Siderastrea siderea corals collected from colonies in southeast Florida in April 2019 and in October 2019, before, during and after aquarium-based experimental heat stress tests. Bulk genomic DNA was extracted from tissue scrapings taken from 2.5cm diameter cores of corals ...

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Coral cores of 2.5-centimeter (cm) diameter were collected from tagged colonies of three coral species in either April 2019 or October 2019 from Emerald Reef in Southeast Florida, USA. Cores were then maintained in 300-liter (L) indoor flow-through aquaria (in the Marine Technology and Life Science Seawater complex at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science) and subjected to experimental heat stress. Before, during, and following the heat stress, 2-millimeter (mm) tissue samples were collected from cores and genomic DNA was subsequently extracted from these samples as per Cunning & Baker (2016). Quantitative PCR was performed using Taqman Environmental Master Mix and symbiont genus-specific and coral species-specific primers and probes targeting the actin gene (Cunning & Baker, 2013; Cunning et al., 2015). In addition to collecting tissue samples, the photochemical efficiency of symbionts within coral cores was also assayed before, during, and after heat stress using an imaging-PAM fluorometer.

Full methodology described in Buzzoni, et al. (2023) (DOI: 10.1007/s00338-023-02428-x)


Related Datasets

IsRelatedTo

Dataset: Seasonal temperatures on Floridian coral reef
Buzzoni, D., Cunning, R., Baker, A. (2024) In situ temperature data from August 2019 to May 2020 from one HOBO temperature logger deployed at Emerald Reef in Southeast Florida, USA. Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO). (Version 1) Version Date 2024-01-24 doi:10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.918364.1

Related Publications

Results

Buzzoni, D., Cunning, R., & Baker, A. C. (2023). The role of background algal symbionts as drivers of shuffling to thermotolerant Symbiodiniaceae following bleaching in three Caribbean coral species. Coral Reefs, 42(6), 1285–1295. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-023-02428-x
Methods

Baker, A., & Ross Cunning, not provided. (2015). Bulk gDNA extraction from coral samples v1. https://doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.dyq7vv
Methods

Cunning, R., & Baker, A. C. (2013). Excess algal symbionts increase the susceptibility of reef corals to bleaching. Nature Climate Change, 3(3), 259–262. doi:10.1038/nclimate1711
Methods

Cunning, R., Silverstein, R. N., & Baker, A. C. (2015). Investigating the causes and consequences of symbiont shuffling in a multi-partner reef coral symbiosis under environmental change. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282(1809), 20141725. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1725
Software

Cunning, R. (2018). Steponer: R Package For Importing Qpcr Data From Stepone™ Software. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.1173322