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Thermal stress response in a dinoflagellate-bearing nudibranch and the octocoral on which it feeds

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Abstract

In this study, we examined two non-scleractinian taxa, the rare nudibranch Phyllodesmium lizardensis and Bayerxenia sp., the octocoral on which the nudibranch lives and feeds, to investigate the effect of experimental heat stress on their symbioses with Symbiodinium. Bleaching has not been studied in nudibranchs. Bayerxenia sp. belongs to the alcyonacea family Xeniidae, members of which are known to be heat sensitive, but the genus has never been subject to heat stress experiments or bleaching observations. While qPCR did not reveal any changes to the symbiont community composition, the two host species responded differently to increased temperature. There were changes in the relative proportion of tissue types in Bayerxenia sp., but these were not attributable to the temperature treatment. Bayerxenia sp. exhibited no changes in cellular structure (apoptosis or cell necrosis), or symbiont functioning, cell size, density, or cladal community structure. On the other hand, the host, P. lizardensis, experienced tissue loss and symbiont densities decreased significantly with the majority of the remaining symbiont cells significantly degenerated after the heat stress. This decrease did not influence symbiont community composition, symbiont cell size, or photosynthetic efficiency. While the bleaching process in nudibranchs was demonstrated for the first time, the physiological and molecular pathways leading to this response still require attention.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank S. Perry, J. Schmieder (Bonn) for support with histological analyses and T. Alpermann (Frankfurt) for advice on interpretation of qPCR data. We are grateful to Lizard Island Research Station staff and for assistance with field work by C. Carrasco and S. Moquin. The trip to Lizard Island was funded by the German National Academic Foundation (M.Z.). The molecular work was funded by a NSF Grant (ID0436605), a NIH Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Grant (K.L.L.) (R25GM075149), a UNM Research Allocations grant, an anonymous donation to the UNM Biology Department, and NIH Grant 1P20RR18754 to UNM’s Molecular Biology Facility. We thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments that helped to improve the manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. A. Joshua Leffler

    Present address: Environmental and Natural Resources Institute, University of Alaska-Anchorage, Anchorage, AK, 99508, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Maren Ziegler

  2. Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, 167 Castetter Hall, MSC03-2020 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA

    Shannon K. FitzPatrick, Katie L. Liberatore, Cristina Takacs-Vesbach & Ursula Shepherd

  3. University Honors Program, University of New Mexico, Student Health Center Building, MSCO6-3890 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA

    Shannon K. FitzPatrick, Katie L. Liberatore & Ursula Shepherd

  4. Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia

    Ingo Burghardt

  5. Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, 5230 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, USA

    A. Joshua Leffler

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  1. Maren Ziegler
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Correspondence to Maren Ziegler.

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Communicated by Biology Editor Dr. Ruth Gates

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Ziegler, M., FitzPatrick, S.K., Burghardt, I. et al. Thermal stress response in a dinoflagellate-bearing nudibranch and the octocoral on which it feeds. Coral Reefs 33, 1085–1099 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-014-1204-8

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