Meeting Abstract

P1.66  Saturday, Jan. 4 15:30  Restricted Signs of Disease May be Due to Varying Basal Immune Levels Within a Coral CAWTHORNE, AM*; PINZON, JH; MYDLARZ, LD; University of Texas at Arlington; University of Texas at Arlington; University of Texas at Arlington alexandra.cawthorne@mavs.uta.edu

Natural and anthropogenic factors are devastating coral reef ecosystems globally, with disease playing a major role in coral and coral reefs decline, especially in the Caribbean. New pathogenic infections and more frequent disease outbreaks are common in this geographic region. The levels of infection within and between populations are variable, likely due to differences in genetic composition between individual colonies. Here we tested if there are differences in basal immune levels between colonies of corals in four coral species (Montastraea faveolata, Diploria strigosa, Porites porites and Porites astroides). We sampled three random locations within five healthy looking colonies from each species (n = 60), and performed five biochemical immune assays (melanin concentration, prophenoloxidase, peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase activity) on each sample. The results indicate that constitutive levels of immune traits in corals are variable between species, but not across colonies within the same coral species. Although we did not find differences between colonies in a species, there appears to be a relationship between many of the immune traits. There is a negative relationship between melanin and its synthesis enzyme, prophenoloxidase and antioxidants. These results indicate that colonies within a species are similarly prepared to fight infection, suggesting that the differences in infections within the species might be due to different immune responses that occur upon pathogen attack. This work furthers our understanding of the variation in immunity among and between species and the general patterns of how coral colonies are prepared to withstand the spread of disease.