TYPE Original Research PUBLISHED 02 March 2023 DOI 10.3389/fmars.2023.1133486
OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY
Virginia M. Weis, Oregon State University, United States REVIEWED BY
Nicholas MacKnight, University of Miami, United States Bradford Dimos, Washington State University, United States *CORRESPONDENCE
Carlos Toledo-Hernández cgth0918@gmail.com Claudia Patricia Ruiz-Diaz claudiapatriciaruiz@gmail.com SPECIALTY SECTION
This article was submitted to Coral Reef Research, a section of the journal Frontiers in Marine Science RECEIVED 29 December 2022 ACCEPTED 15 February 2023 PUBLISHED 02 March 2023
Uncovering the link between environmental factors and coral immunity: A study of fluorescent protein expression and phenoloxidase activity in Acropora cervicornis Carlos Toledo-Hernández 1*, Claudia Patricia Ruiz-Diaz 1*, Juan Sebastian Ramı́rez-Lugo 2, Marielys Torres-Dı́az 3, Lisby Santiago-Pagán 3, Andrea Bruno-Chardón 3 and Liz M. Dı́az-Vázquez 3,4 1 Sociedad Ambiente Marino (SAM), San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2 Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 3 Department of Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 4 NSF-CREST Center for Innovation, Research, and Education in Environmental Nanotechnology University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
CITATION
Toledo-Hernández C, Ruiz-Diaz CP, Ramı´rez-Lugo JS, Torres-Dı´az M, Santiago-Pagán L, Bruno-Chardón A and Dı´az-Vázquez LM (2023) Uncovering the link between environmental factors and coral immunity: A study of fluorescent protein expression and phenoloxidase activity in Acropora cervicornis. Front. Mar. Sci. 10:1133486. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2023.1133486 COPYRIGHT
© 2023 Toledo-Hernández, Ruiz-Diaz, Ramı´rez-Lugo, Torres-Dı´az, Santiago-Pagán, Bruno-Chardón and Dı´az-Vázquez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Frontiers in Marine Science
Worsening environmental conditions due to climate change have profoundly affected the health of coral reefs worldwide. Thus, understanding how corals respond to fluctuating and/or extreme levels of temperature and solar irradiation will guide future protection and restoration efforts of this valuable ecosystem. Herein, we present a study of the immune responses of the endangered coral Acropora cervicornis to seasonal fluctuations in water temperature (WT), light intensity (LI), and water depth. Immune responses were observed by measuring the concentration of green and cyan fluorescent proteins (GFP and CyFP) and the activity of phenoloxidase (PO), an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of the photoprotective protein melanin. To study these responses, visually healthy A. cervicornis fragments were placed at 8, and 12 m depth, and GFP, CyPF, and PO activity were measured at three-month intervals over a 12-month period. Seawater temperature and light intensity were also measured at each depth during this period. A general linear mixed model was used to determine the effects of seasonal variations of WT, LI, and water depth on the immune proteins. GFP, CyFP, and PO activity varied significantly across time – all higher in late summer/early fall and lower in late winter/early spring. Likewise, WT and LI significantly affected GFP, CyFP, and PO activity. On the other hand, water depth only had a significant effect on fluorescent protein concentrations but not PO activity. Our study demonstrates that corals can modulate these key immunerelated proteins throughout natural seasonal fluctuations. That is, increasing in months of higher thermal and light conditions while decreasing in months with mild thermal and light conditions. The phenotypic plasticity of A. cervicornis in
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