Fish and Wildlife Disease

Lobed star coral (Orbicella annularis) in the Dry Tortugas. Red arrows indicate healthy coral. Black arrows indicate coral affected by white plague-like disease. Photo credit: Christina Kellogg/USGS

An article published online in November 2013 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by microbiologists at the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center used DNA microarrays to examine the bacterial communities associated with healthy corals and those affected by a white plague-like disease. The results showed that bacterial communities were similar in diseased corals regardless of location (Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida vs. Virgin Islands National Park). The microarrays also identified specific bacterial groups that were consistently associated with only healthy or only diseased corals. A bacterium previously identified as the causative agent of white plague disease was not consistently associated with this disease.

For more information contact Christina A. Kellogg, St. Petersburg Science Center.

Related Publications:

Kellogg, C.A., Piceno, Y.M., Tom, L.M., DeSantis, T.Z., Gray, M.A., Zawada D.G. and Andersen G.L., 2013. Comparing bacterial community composition between healthy and white plague-like disease states in Orbicella annularis using PhyloChip™ G3 microarrays. PLoS ONE 8(11): e79801. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0079801.

See also Microbial Ecology: Corals >>

Photo: Corals and sediment communities in the deep-water canyons are home to uncharacterized microbial diversity. Photo credit: Ian MacDonald.

Off the eastern coast of the United States, several deep canyons cut through the continental shelf, acting like funnels for sediments to move from the shelf down to the deep seafloor. Exposed rock outcrops and ledges along the walls of these canyons provide important habitat for deep-sea corals and sponges, while the soft sediments in the valley are home to dynamic communities of tiny burrowing animals.  Our knowledge of the biodiversity in these complex ecosystems is limited; we know little about the macrofauna (fishes, crabs, sponges, and deep-sea corals) and even less about the microbiota (bacteria and fungi). This study will investigate the microbial biofilms that form on hard substrates (since the mixed community of bacteria in a particular biofilm can determine what animals will later choose to live there, affecting the eventual community structure of the visible fauna). The diversity of microbes associated with deep-sea corals and soft sediment communities in the canyons will also be characterized.

For more information contact Christina A. Kellogg, St. Petersburg Science Center.

Related Publications:

Kellogg, C.A., 2011, Microbial ecology of deep-water mid-Atlantic canyons: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2011–3102, 2 p.

See also Microbial Ecology: Corals >>

The great star coral (Montastraea cavernosa) with lesions caused by yellow blotch/band disease. Photo credit: USGS Image Gallery

Coral disease is now recognized as one of the major causes of reef degradation and coral death.  Although many coral diseases or syndromes are currently being monitored, few causative agents have been identified.  Moreover, these putative pathogens have not been consistently observed in all corals exhibiting signs of these diseases.  Further research has suggested that coral diseases may be secondary opportunistic infections, rather than the result of primary pathogens, making it imperative to understand the microbial shifts that occur from healthy to diseased corals.  This project will employ custom-designed microarrays to characterize several coral species on a microbial level.  Disease mechanisms will be studied by comparing the microbial profiles of healthy and diseased corals at two sites: Dry Tortugas National Park in the Gulf of Mexico, and Virgin Islands National Park in the Caribbean.  This will allow an unprecedented comparison of microbial communities between healthy and diseased corals, between species of coral, and between geographic locations.  Microarray data will provide a new baseline of information and may reveal previously unknown patterns underlying the diseased state.

Related Publications:

Kellogg, C.A., Piceno, Y.M., Tom, L.M., DeSantis, T.Z., Zawada D.G. and Andersen G.L., 2012. PhyloChip™ microarray comparison of sampling methods used for coral microbial ecology. Journal of Microbiological Methods 88:103-109.

Kellogg, C.A., and Zawada, D.G., 2009, Applying new methods to diagnose coral diseases: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2009-3113, 2 p. (Also available at https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2009/3113/.)

For more information contact Christina A. Kellogg, St. Petersburg Science Center.

See also Microbial Ecology: Corals >>