High regenerative capacity is a general feature within colonial dendrophylliid corals (Anthozoa, Scleractinia)

Author(s)

Pereira Luz, Bruna Louise ^{[1, 2, 3, 4]} ; Miller, David John ^{[1, 4]} ; Kitahara, Marcelo Visentini ^{[5, 2, 3]}

Affiliation

^[1] James Cook Univ, ARC Ctr Excellence Coral Reef Studies, Townsville, Qld 4811 - Australia

^[2] Univ Fed Parana, Coastal & Ocean Syst Grad Program, Pontal Do Parana, Parana - Brazil

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Ctr Marine Biol, Praia Do Cabelo Gordo, Sao Sebastiao - Brazil

^[4] James Cook Univ, Ctr Trop Bioinformat & Mol Biol, Townsville, Qld 4811 - Australia

^[5] Univ Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Marine Sci, Santos, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION; v. 336, n. 3 JAN 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

The regenerative capacity of cnidarians plays an essential role in the maintenance and restoration of coral reef ecosystems by allowing faster recovery from disturbances and more efficient small-scale dispersal. However, in the case of invasive species, this property may contribute to their dispersal and success in nonnative habitats. Given that four Indo-Pacific members of the coral genus Tubastraea have invaded the Atlantic, here we evaluated the ability of three of these species (Tubastraea coccinea, Tubastraea diaphana, and Tubastraea micranthus) to regenerate from fragments of undifferentiated coral tissue to fully functional polyps in response to differences in food supply and fragment size. For comparative purposes, another colonial dendrophylliid (Dendrophyllia sp.) was included in the analyses. All dendrophylliids displayed regenerative ability and high survival rates that were independent of whether or not food was supplied or fragment size. However, regeneration rates varied between species and were influenced by fragment size. Temporal expression of key genes of the regenerative process (Wnt and FGF) was profiled during whole-body regeneration of T. coccinea, suggesting a remarkable regenerative ability of T. coccinea that points to its potential use as a laboratory model for the investigation of regeneration in colonial calcified anthozoans. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 17/50229-5 - Deep sea corals in the South Atlantic: new insights from an interdisciplinary study
• Grantee: Marcelo Visentini Kitahara
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 14/01332-0 - Phylogenomics of the order Scleractinia (Cnidaria, Anthozoa): relationships between evolution and climate change
• Grantee: Marcelo Visentini Kitahara
• Support Opportunities: Research Program on Global Climate Change - Young Investigators