Global change and its associated temperature increase has directly or indirectly changed the distributions of hosts and pathogens, and has affected host immunity, pathogen virulence and growth rates. This has resulted in increased disease in natural plant and animal populations worldwide, including scleractinian corals. While the effects of temperature increase on immunity and pathogen virulence have been clearly identified, their interaction, synergy and relative weight during pathogenesis remain poorly documented. We investigated these phenomena in the interaction between the coral Pocillopora damicornis and the bacterium Vibrio coralliilyticus, for which the infection process is temperature-dependent. We developed an experimental model that enabled unraveling the effects of thermal stress, and virulence vs. non-virulence of the bacterium. The physiological impacts of various treatments were quantified at the transcriptome level using a combination of RNA sequencing and targeted approaches. The results showed that thermal stress triggered a general weakening of the coral, making it more prone to infection, non-virulent bacterium induced an ‘efficient’ immune response, whereas virulent bacterium caused immuno-suppression in its host.
CNRS, Ecologie et Evolution des Interactions, UMR 5244, Perpignan, France;Univ. Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecologie et Evolution des Interactions, UMR 5244, Perpignan, France;CNRS, Ecologie et Evolution des Interactions, UMR 5244, Perpignan, France;Univ. Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecologie et Evolution des Interactions, UMR 5244, Perpignan, France;Reponse Immunitaire des Macroorganismes et Environnement, Ecologie des Systèmes Marins côtiers, UMR 5119 CNRS-Ifremer-UM2, Montpellier, France;Univ. Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecologie et Evolution des Interactions, UMR 5244, Perpignan, France;CNRS, Ecologie et Evolution des Interactions, UMR 5244, Perpignan, France;Univ. Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecologie et Evolution des Interactions, UMR 5244, Perpignan, France;CNRS, Ecologie et Evolution des Interactions, UMR 5244, Perpignan, France;Univ. Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecologie et Evolution des Interactions, UMR 5244, Perpignan, France;CNRS, Ecologie et Evolution des Interactions, UMR 5244, Perpignan, France;Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Center for Genome Research and Biocomputing, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America;Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Center for Genome Research and Biocomputing, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America;Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Unité 227 CoRéUs2 “Biocomplexité des écosystèmes coralliens de l’Indo-Pacifique”, Laboratoire d’excellence CORAIL, Banyuls-sur-Mer, France;Univ. Perpignan Via Domitia, Ecologie et Evolution des Interactions, UMR 5244, Perpignan, France;CNRS, Ecologie et Evolution des Interactions, UMR 5244, Perpignan, France
Recommended Citation:
Jeremie Vidal-Dupiol,Nolwenn M. Dheilly,Rodolfo Rondon,et al. Thermal Stress Triggers Broad Pocillopora damicornis Transcriptomic Remodeling, while Vibrio coralliilyticus Infection Induces a More Targeted Immuno-Suppression Response[J]. PLOS ONE,2014-01-01,9(9)