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Antioxidant responses to heat and light stress differ with habitat in a common reef coral

Coral Reefs volume 34, pages 1229–1241 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Coral bleaching—the stress-induced collapse of the coral–Symbiodinium symbiosis—is a significant driver of worldwide coral reef degradation. Yet, not all corals are equally susceptible to bleaching, and we lack a clear understanding of the mechanisms underpinning their differential susceptibilities. Here, we focus on cellular redox regulation as a potential determinant of bleaching susceptibility in the reef coral Stylophora pistillata. Using slow heating (1 °C d−1) and altered irradiance, we induced bleaching in S. pistillata colonies sampled from two depths [5–8 m (shallow) and 15–18 m (deep)]. There was significant depth-dependent variability in the timing and extent of bleaching (loss of symbiont cells), as well as in host enzymatic antioxidant activity [specifically, superoxide dismutase and catalase (CAT)]. However, among the coral fragments that bleached, most did so without displaying any evidence of a host enzymatic antioxidant response. For example, both deep and shallow corals suffered significant symbiont loss at elevated temperature, but only deep colonies exposed to high temperature and high light displayed any up-regulation of host antioxidant enzyme activity (CAT). Surprisingly, this preceded the equivalent antioxidant responses of the symbiont, which raises questions about the source(s) of hydrogen peroxide in the symbiosis. Overall, changes in enzymatic antioxidant activity in the symbionts were driven primarily by irradiance rather than temperature, and responses were similar across depth groups. Taken together, our results suggest that in the absence of light stress, heating of 1 °C d−1 to 4 °C above ambient is not sufficient to induce a substantial oxidative challenge in S. pistillata. We provide some of the first evidence that regulation of coral enzymatic antioxidants can vary significantly depending on habitat, and, in terms of determining bleaching susceptibility, our results suggest a significant role for the host’s differential regulation of cellular redox status.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the staff at Heron Island Research Station, University of Queensland, for their assistance with sampling and equipment maintenance, and Dr Olga Pantos for providing storage space for samples during transit. This work was carried out as part of a PhD project supported by a Commonwealth Scholarship awarded to TH, a Marsden Fund award (#VUW0902) to SKD and PF, a Marsden-funded PhD scholarship to TK, and a Victoria University of Wellington Vice Chancellor’s Strategic Research PhD Scholarship to SPW. Finally, we thank Dr Mark Warner, members of the Davy Lab and four anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, 6140, New Zealand

    Thomas D. Hawkins, Thomas Krueger, Shaun P. Wilkinson, Paul L. Fisher & Simon K. Davy

  2. College of Earth, Ocean and Environment, University of Delaware, Lewes, DE, 19958, USA

    Thomas D. Hawkins

  3. Laboratory for Biological Geochemistry, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Thomas Krueger

  4. School of Civil Engineering, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Paul L. Fisher

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  1. Thomas D. Hawkins
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  5. Simon K. Davy
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Correspondence to Simon K. Davy.

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Communicated by Biology Editor Dr. Line K. Bay

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Hawkins, T.D., Krueger, T., Wilkinson, S.P. et al. Antioxidant responses to heat and light stress differ with habitat in a common reef coral. Coral Reefs 34, 1229–1241 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-015-1345-4

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Keywords

  • Coral bleaching
  • Cnidarian–dinoflagellate symbiosis
  • Symbiodinium
  • Stylophora pistillata
  • Oxidative stress
  • Climate change