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Visualization of oxygen distribution patterns caused by coral and algae.

ABSTRACT: Planar optodes were used to visualize oxygen distribution patterns associated with a coral reef associated green algae (Chaetomorpha sp.) and a hermatypic coral (Favia sp.) separately, as standalone organisms, and placed in close proximity mimicking coral-algal interactions. Oxygen patterns were assessed in light and dark conditions and under varying flow regimes. The images show discrete high oxygen concentration regions above the organisms during lighted periods and low oxygen in the dark. Size and orientation of these areas were dependent on flow regime. For corals and algae in close proximity the 2D optodes show areas of extremely low oxygen concentration at the interaction interfaces under both dark (18.4 ± 7.7 µmol O2 L(- 1)) and daylight (97.9 ± 27.5 µmol O2 L(- 1)) conditions. These images present the first two-dimensional visualization of oxygen gradients generated by benthic reef algae and corals under varying flow conditions and provide a 2D depiction of previously observed hypoxic zones at coral algae interfaces. This approach allows for visualization of locally confined, distinctive alterations of oxygen concentrations facilitated by benthic organisms and provides compelling evidence for hypoxic conditions at coral-algae interaction zones.

SUBMITTER: Haas AF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3719126 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Visualization of oxygen distribution patterns caused by coral and algae.

Haas Andreas F AF Gregg Allison K AK Smith Jennifer E JE Abieri Maria L ML Hatay Mark M Rohwer Forest F

PeerJ 20130716

Planar optodes were used to visualize oxygen distribution patterns associated with a coral reef associated green algae (Chaetomorpha sp.) and a hermatypic coral (Favia sp.) separately, as standalone organisms, and placed in close proximity mimicking coral-algal interactions. Oxygen patterns were assessed in light and dark conditions and under varying flow regimes. The images show discrete high oxygen concentration regions above the organisms during lighted periods and low oxygen in the dark. Siz ...[more]

PMID: 23882443

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Project description:Benthic algae are associated with coral death in the form of stress and disease. It's been proposed that they release exudates, which facilitate invasion of potentially pathogenic microbes at the coral-algal interface, resulting in coral disease. However, the original source of these pathogens remains unknown. This study examined the ability of benthic algae to act as reservoirs of coral pathogens by characterizing surface associated microbes associated with major Caribbean and Indo-Pacific algal species/types and by comparing them to potential pathogens of two dominant coral diseases: White Syndrome (WS) in the Indo-Pacific and Yellow Band Disease (YBD) in the Caribbean. Coral and algal sampling was conducted simultaneously at the same sites to avoid spatial effects. Potential pathogens were defined as those absent or rare in healthy corals, increasing in abundance in healthy tissues adjacent to a disease lesion, and dominant in disease lesions. Potentially pathogenic bacteria were detected in both WS and YBD and were also present within the majority of algal species/types (54 and 100% for WS and YBD respectively). Pathogenic ciliates were associated only with WS and not YBD lesions and these were also present in 36% of the Indo-Pacific algal species. Although potential pathogens were associated with many algal species, their presence was inconsistent among replicate algal samples and detection rates were relatively low, suggestive of low density and occurrence. At the community level, coral-associated microbes irrespective of the health of their host differed from algal-associated microbes, supporting that algae and corals have distinctive microbial communities associated with their tissue. We conclude that benthic algae are common reservoirs for a variety of different potential coral pathogens. However, algal-associated microbes alone are unlikely to cause coral death. Initial damage or stress to the coral via other competitive mechanisms is most likely a prerequisite to potential transmission of these pathogens.

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Dataset Information

Visualization of oxygen distribution patterns caused by coral and algae.

Publications

Visualization of oxygen distribution patterns caused by coral and algae.

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