scholarly journals Ecological and molecular characterization of a coral black band disease outbreak in the Red Sea during a bleaching event

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghaida Hadaidi ◽  
Maren Ziegler ◽  
Amanda Shore-Maggio ◽  
Thor Jensen ◽  
Greta Aeby ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Community ◽  
Red Sea ◽  
Microbial Mats ◽  
Heterotrophic Bacteria ◽  
Coral Disease ◽  
Differential Susceptibility ◽  
Black Band Disease ◽  
Southern Central ◽  
Black Band

Black Band Disease (BBD) is a widely distributed and destructive coral disease that has been studied on a global scale, but baseline data on coral diseases is missing from many areas of the Arabian Seas. Here we report on the broad distribution and prevalence of BBD in the Red Sea in addition to documenting a bleaching-associated outbreak of BBD with subsequent microbial community characterization of BBD microbial mats at this reef site in the southern central Red Sea. Coral colonies with BBD were found at roughly a third of our 22 survey sites with an overall prevalence of 0.04%. Nine coral genera were infected including Astreopora, Coelastrea, Dipsastraea, Gardineroseris, Goniopora, Montipora, Pavona, Platygyra, and Psammocora. For a southern central Red Sea outbreak site, overall prevalence was 40 times higher than baseline (1.7%). Differential susceptibility to BBD was apparent among coral genera with Dipsastraea (prevalence 6.1%), having more diseased colonies than was expected based on its abundance within transects. Analysis of the microbial community associated with the BBD mat showed that it is dominated by a consortium of cyanobacteria and heterotrophic bacteria. We detected the three main indicators for BBD (filamentous cyanobacteria, sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), and sulfide-oxidizing bacteria (SOB)), with high similarity to BBD-associated microbes found worldwide. More specifically, the microbial consortium of BBD-diseased coral colonies in the Red Sea consisted of Oscillatoria sp. (cyanobacteria), Desulfovibrio sp. (SRB), and Arcobacter sp. (SOB). Given the similarity of associated bacteria worldwide, our data suggest that BBD represents a global coral disease with predictable etiology. Furthermore, we provide a baseline assessment of BBD disease prevalence in the Red Sea, a still understudied region.

Characterization of black band disease in Red Sea stony corals

2007 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1995-2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orit Barneah ◽  
Eitan Ben-Dov ◽  
Esti Kramarsky-Winter ◽  
Ariel Kushmaro
Keyword(s):  
Red Sea ◽  
Black Band Disease ◽  
Stony Corals ◽  
Black Band

scholarly journals Coral Disease Diagnostics: What's between a Plague and a Band?

2006 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 981-992 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. D. Ainsworth ◽  
E. Kramasky-Winter ◽  
Y. Loya ◽  
O. Hoegh-Guldberg ◽  
M. Fine
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Communities ◽  
Coral Disease ◽  
Disease Diagnosis ◽  
Black Band Disease ◽  
External Appearance ◽  
Tropical Oceans ◽  
Disease Diagnostics ◽  
Black Band ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
Extensive Necrosis

ABSTRACT Recently, reports of coral disease have increased significantly across the world's tropical oceans. Despite increasing efforts to understand the changing incidence of coral disease, very few primary pathogens have been identified, and most studies remain dependent on the external appearance of corals for diagnosis. Given this situation, our current understanding of coral disease and the progression and underlying causes thereof is very limited. In the present study, we use structural and microbial studies to differentiate different forms of black band disease: atypical black band disease and typical black band disease. Atypical black band diseased corals were infected with the black band disease microbial consortium yet did not show any of the typical external signs of black band disease based on macroscopic observations. In previous studies, these examples, here referred to as atypical black band disease, would have not been correctly diagnosed. We also differentiate white syndrome from white diseases on the basis of tissue structure and the presence/absence of microbial associates. White diseases are those with dense bacterial communities associated with lesions of symbiont loss and/or extensive necrosis of tissues, while white syndromes are characteristically bacterium free, with evidence for extensive programmed cell death/apoptosis associated with the lesion and the adjacent tissues. The pathology of coral disease as a whole requires further investigation. This study emphasizes the importance of going beyond the external macroscopic signs of coral disease for accurate disease diagnosis.

scholarly journals Modelling environmental drivers of black band disease outbreaks in populations of foliose corals in the genus Montipora

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla C.M. Chen ◽  
David G. Bourne ◽  
Christopher C. Drovandi ◽  
Kerrie Mengersen ◽  
Bette L. Willis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coral Disease ◽  
Seawater Temperature ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Black Band Disease ◽  
Light Levels ◽  
Black Band ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Healthy Coral

Seawater temperature anomalies associated with warming climate have been linked to increases in coral disease outbreaks that have contributed to coral reef declines globally. However, little is known about how seasonal scale variations in environmental factors influence disease dynamics at the level of individual coral colonies. In this study, we applied a multi-state Markov model (MSM) to investigate the dynamics of black band disease (BBD) developing from apparently healthy corals and/or a precursor-stage, termed ‘cyanobacterial patches’ (CP), in relation to seasonal variation in light and seawater temperature at two reef sites around Pelorus Island in the central sector of the Great Barrier Reef. The model predicted that the proportion of colonies transitioning from BBD to Healthy states within three months was approximately 57%, but 5.6% of BBD cases resulted in whole colony mortality. According to our modelling, healthy coral colonies were more susceptible to BBD during summer months when light levels were at their maxima and seawater temperatures were either rising or at their maxima. In contrast, CP mostly occurred during spring, when both light and seawater temperatures were rising. This suggests that environmental drivers for healthy coral colonies transitioning into a CP state are different from those driving transitions into BBD. Our model predicts that (1) the transition from healthy to CP state is best explained by increasing light, (2) the transition between Healthy to BBD occurs more frequently from early to late summer, (3) 20% of CP infected corals developed BBD, although light and temperature appeared to have limited impact on this state transition, and (4) the number of transitions from Healthy to BBD differed significantly between the two study sites, potentially reflecting differences in localised wave action regimes.

Characterization of the bacterial consortium associated with black band disease in coral using molecular microbiological techniques

2002 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. 401-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rory P. Cooney ◽  
Olga Pantos ◽  
Martin D. A. Le Tissier ◽  
Michael R. Barer ◽  
Anthony G. O'Donnell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Consortium ◽  
Black Band Disease ◽  
Microbiological Techniques ◽  
Black Band

Coral disease succession in Tobago: from yellow band to black band disease

Coral Reefs ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 787-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Mallela ◽  
R. Parkinson
Keyword(s):  
Coral Disease ◽  
Black Band Disease ◽  
Yellow Band ◽  
Black Band
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