title: The cellular stress response of the scleractinian coral Goniopora columna during the progression of the black band disease.
abstract: Black band disease (BBD) is a widespread coral pathology caused by a microbial consortium dominated by cyanobacteria, which is significantly contributing to the loss of coral cover and diversity worldwide. Since the effects of the BBD pathogens on the physiology and cellular stress response of coral polyps appear almost unknown, the expression of some molecular biomarkers, such as Hsp70, Hsp60, HO-1, and MnSOD, was analyzed in the apparently healthy tissues of Goniopora columna located at different distances from the infection and during two disease development stages. All the biomarkers displayed different levels of expression between healthy and diseased colonies. In the healthy corals, low basal levels were found stable over time in different parts of the same colony. On the contrary, in the diseased colonies, a strong up-regulation of all the biomarkers was observed in all the tissues surrounding the infection, which suffered an oxidative stress probably generated by the alternation, at the progression front of the disease, of conditions of oxygen supersaturation and hypoxia/anoxia, and by the production of the cyanotoxin microcystin by the BBD cyanobacteria. Furthermore, in the infected colonies, the expression of all the biomarkers appeared significantly affected by the development stage of the disease. In conclusion, our approach may constitute a useful diagnostic tool, since the cellular stress response of corals is activated before the pathogens colonize the tissues, and expands the current knowledge of the mechanisms controlling the host responses to infection in corals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnologies and Biosciences, University of Milano - Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126, Milan, Italy. davide.seveso@unimib.it.|MaRHE Center (Marine Research and High Education Centre), Magoodhoo Island, Faafu Atoll, Republic of Maldives. davide.seveso@unimib.it.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Seveso
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnologies and Biosciences, University of Milano - Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126, Milan, Italy.|MaRHE Center (Marine Research and High Education Centre), Magoodhoo Island, Faafu Atoll, Republic of Maldives.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Montano
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnologies and Biosciences, University of Milano - Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126, Milan, Italy.|MaRHE Center (Marine Research and High Education Centre), Magoodhoo Island, Faafu Atoll, Republic of Maldives.
authors.forename: Melissa Amanda Ljubica
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Reggente
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnologies and Biosciences, University of Milano - Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126, Milan, Italy.|MaRHE Center (Marine Research and High Education Centre), Magoodhoo Island, Faafu Atoll, Republic of Maldives.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Maggioni
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnologies and Biosciences, University of Milano - Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Orlandi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnologies and Biosciences, University of Milano - Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126, Milan, Italy.|MaRHE Center (Marine Research and High Education Centre), Magoodhoo Island, Faafu Atoll, Republic of Maldives.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Galli
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnologies and Biosciences, University of Milano - Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000378:metabolism*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000662:veterinary; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D018834:Chaperonin 60 / Q000378:metabolism; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D018834:Chaperonin 60; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase
keywords: Biomarkers; Black band disease; Cellular stress response; Goniopora columna; Maldives; Oxidative stress