Coral Disease and Immunity
Date of Award
2008
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Natural Sciences
First Advisor
Gilchrist, Sandra
Keywords
Coral Disease, Immunity: Coral Reefs, Disease, PCR, Molecular Biology, Ecology, Honduras
Area of Concentration
Biology
Abstract
The health of coral reefs around the world has recently declined due to several environmental and anthropogenic factors including coral bleaching, nutrient enrichment, over-fishing, and coral diseases. The incidences of coral diseases have rapidly increased since the first report in 1965. Over 25 diseases and syndromes have been reported to affect a wide range of coral species in all major warm water reef systems studied to date. Only a handful of the causative agents for these diseases have been identified, and most remain uncharacterized beyond apparent symptoms. Research on coral disease has been dominated by ecological surveys and microbiological studies, but no investigations have attempted to identify and characterize novel coral molecular responses to disease that may be related to coral immunity. In this study we conducted an analysis of differential gene expression between diseased and healthy corals, from which mucus sample were collected in Honduras during the summer of 2007. Differential display PCR was used to identify putative differentially expressed immunity-related genes, which were cloned and sequenced. Sequences derived from this study that are likely of coral origin will be the first reported putative coral molecular responses to disease. The ultimate goal of this project is to characterize a number of these responses, and develop a molecular probe and field test that can be used to assess the health of corals and predict possible disease outbreaks.
Recommended Citation
Anderson, III, David A., "Coral Disease and Immunity" (2008). Theses & ETDs. 3898.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/3898
Rights
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