Molecular pathology of skeletal growth anomalies in the brain coral Platygyra carnosa: A meta-transcriptomic analysis

Yu Zhang, Jin Sun, Huawei Mu, Janice C.Y. Lun, Jian Wen Qiu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Coral skeletal growth anomaly (GA) is a common coral disease. Although extensive ecological characterizations of coral GA have been performed, the molecular pathology of this disease remains largely unknown. We compared the meta-transcriptome of normal and GA-affected polyps of Platygyra carnosa using RNA-Seq. Approximately 50 million sequences were generated from four pairs of normal and GA-affected tissue samples. There were 109 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in P. carnosa and 31 DEGs in the coral symbiont Symbiodinium sp. These differentially expressed host genes were enriched in GO terms related to osteogenesis and oncogenesis. There were several differentially expressed immune genes, indicating the presence of both bacteria and viruses in GA-affected tissues. The differentially expressed Symbiodinium genes were enriched in reproduction, nitrogen metabolism and pigment formation, indicating that GA affects the physiology of the symbiont. Our results have provided new insights into the molecular pathology of coral GA.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)660-667
Number of pages8
JournalMarine Pollution Bulletin
Volume124
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Nov 2017

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Oceanography
  • Aquatic Science
  • Pollution

User-Defined Keywords

  • Coral
  • Coral disease
  • Coral health
  • Coral tumor
  • Gene expression
  • Transcriptome

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