Meeting Abstract
Coral reefs are highly productive ecosystems that have been facing drastic declines in recent decades. Increased frequency in disease outbreaks contribute considerably to these declines, yet many coral diseases are poorly understood. In 2013, a novel disease infecting soft corals in the genus Eunicea was observed in Florida, USA. This disease was identified by extreme black pigmentation resulting from melanin deposition into the coral tissue. The etiological agent of this disease is as of yet unknown and was thus generically named “Eunicea black disease” (EBD). In diseased corals, previous histological analyses demonstrated tissue disorganization and previous transcriptomic analyses show a disruption of growth and reproductive processes. Here we present further characterization of EBD-infected corals using proteomic techniques to deepen our understanding of coral disease dynamics at the molecular level. Proteins from healthy and diseased coral samples were identified and quantified using nanospray mass spectrometry. Preliminary results show increased expression of proteins involved in inflammatory pathways in diseased corals, suggesting inflammation as a primary response to the pathogen responsible for EBD. Antimicrobial elements were also upregulated in diseased corals, along with GTP binding elements and nitric oxide producing elements. These data layered with previous transcriptomic data can inform late-stage consequences of infection and can therefore provide insight into coral resilience after a disease outbreak.
