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Exposure to global change and microplastics elicits an immune response in an endangered coral
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Researchers exposed an endangered coral species to combined stressors of elevated seawater temperature, reduced pH, and microplastics, finding that these global change factors together with local microplastic pollution elicit measurable immune responses, suggesting additive or synergistic stress effects on reef-building corals.
ABSTRACT Global change is increasing seawater temperatures and decreasing oceanic pH, driving declines of coral reefs globally. Coral ecosystems are also impacted by local stressors, including microplastics, which are ubiquitous on reefs. While the independent effects of these global and local stressors are well-documented, their interactions remain less explored. Here, we examine the independent and combined effects of global change (ocean warming and acidification) and microplastics exposures on gene expression (GE) and microbial community composition in the endangered coral Acropora cervicornis . Nine genotypes were fragmented and maintained in one of four experimental treatments: 1) ambient conditions (ambient seawater, no microplastics; AMB); 2) microplastics treatment (ambient seawater, microplastics; MP); 3) global change conditions (warm and acidic conditions, no microplastics; OAW); and 4) multistressor treatment (warm and acidic conditions with microplastics; OAW+MP) for 22 days, after which corals were sampled for genome-wide GE profiling and ITS and 16S metabarcoding. Overall A. cervicornis GE responses to all treatments were subtle; however, corals in the multistressor treatment exhibited the strongest GE responses, and genes associated with innate immunity were overrepresented in this treatment, according to gene ontology enrichment analyses. 16S analyses revealed stable microbiomes dominated by the bacterial associate Aquarickettsia , suggesting that these A. cervicornis fragments exhibited remarkably low variability in bacterial community composition. Future work should focus on functional differences across microbiomes, especially Aquarickettsia and viruses, in these responses. Overall, results suggest that local stressors present a unique challenge to endangered coral species under global change.
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Exposure to global change and microplastics elicits an immune response in an endangered coral
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers examined how the combination of ocean warming, acidification, and microplastic exposure affects the endangered coral Acropora cervicornis over 22 days. They found that while individual stressors produced subtle gene expression changes, the combined multistressor treatment triggered the strongest response, particularly in genes related to innate immunity. The study suggests that microplastics may compound the effects of climate change on coral health by activating immune stress responses.
Interactive effects of microplastic pollution and heat stress on reef-building corals
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Researchers tested the combined effects of microplastic pollution and heat stress on five reef-building coral species in controlled laboratory experiments. They found that while heat stress caused significant bleaching, tissue death, and reduced photosynthetic efficiency, microplastics alone had only minor effects at ambient temperatures, suggesting that climate change remains a far greater threat to coral reefs than microplastic pollution.
Interactive effects of microplastic pollution and heat stress on reef-building corals
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This study tested the combined effects of microplastic exposure and heat stress on reef-building corals, finding that the combination caused more damage than either stressor alone. As climate change raises ocean temperatures, the simultaneous pressure from plastic pollution may accelerate coral reef decline.
Acute microplastic exposure raises stress response and suppresses detoxification and immune capacities in the scleractinian coral Pocillopora damicornis
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