Major cellular and physiological impacts of ocean acidification on a reef building coral

• Main Authors: Kaniewska, Paulina, Campbell, Paul R, Kline, David I, Rodriguez-Lanetty, Mauricio, Miller, David J, Dove, Sophie, Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2012
• Subjects: Acropora millepora; Alkalinity; total; standard deviation; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Benthic animals; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Calcification/Dissolution; Calcification rate; Calcite saturation state; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbon; inorganic; dissolved; Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Category; Cnidaria; Coast and continental shelf; Containers and aquaria (20-1000 L or < 1 m**2); Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Gene expression; fold change; relative; Gene expression (incl. proteomics); Gene name; Heron_Reef; Heron Reef; Great Barrier Reef; Queensland; Identification; Incubation duration; Laboratory experiment; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); pH; Photosynthetic capacity; oxygen production per cell; Primary production/Photosynthesis; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.831180; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.831180

As atmospheric levels of CO2 increase, reef-building corals are under greater stress from both increased sea surface temperatures and declining sea water pH. To date, most studies have focused on either coral bleaching due to warming oceans or declining calcification due to decreasing oceanic carbonate ion concentrations. Here, through the use of physiology measurements and cDNA microarrays, we show that changes in pH and ocean chemistry consistent with two scenarios put forward by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) drive major changes in gene expression, respiration, photosynthesis and symbiosis of the coral, Acropora millepora, before affects on biomineralisation are apparent at the phenotype level. Under high CO2 conditions corals at the phenotype level lost over half their Symbiodinium populations, and had a decrease in both photosynthesis and respiration. Changes in gene expression were consistent with metabolic suppression, an increase in oxidative stress, apoptosis and symbiont loss. Other expression patterns demonstrate upregulation of membrane transporters, as well as the regulation of genes involved in membrane cytoskeletal interactions and cytoskeletal remodeling. These widespread changes in gene expression emphasize the need to expand future studies of ocean acidification to include a wider spectrum of cellular processes, many of which may occur before impacts on calcification.