MYDLARZ, L.D.*; WARD, J.R.; HARVELL, C.D.; Cornell University; Cornell University; Cornell University: The Dynamics of Immunocompetence and Climate Drivers in Coral Response to Disease

Coral reef ecosystems have sustained some of the most damaging effects of climate change. Despite demonstrated impacts and high mortality caused by temperature stress, little information exists on how variations in temperature, UV irradiation and nutrients due to coastal runoff affect the quality of coral immune responses and ability to fight infectious diseases. Using aspergillosis of sea fan corals as a model pathosystem, we are quantifying components of the immune responses of “” Gorgonia ventalina ““. Components of immunity include coral cellular responses such as production of a melanin barrier to isolate the fungus, amoebocyte aggregation, production of oxidative stress proteins and molecules and sclerite purpling and humoral defenses which include the biosynthesis of anti-fungal metabolites. Field sampling and experimental manipulations with the pathogen are the basis for describing coral responses to disease and relationship to environmental drivers. This ecological immunology approach to understanding the dynamics of coral disease and the effects of climate drivers on immune processes is instrumental in developing conservation and management standards for infectious diseases of corals.