"pigment grafting"

[Detritivore]

http://www.reeffarmers.com/limitedgraftedsimplex.htm

pretty cool, huh?

[gqjeff]

Yea March of 08 and I wil have a frag too hehehhe.....

[coralite]

That is a pretty wicked, scenario. I have a coral that looks similar but it has growing patches that are devoid of pigments and zoox. I am curious to see how the colors develop over time, its too bad A simplex is such a slow growing coral cause itll be a long time before we get this "freak" spread out into different systems.

[nani]

looks really cool :O

i can image the colours u could put together make a rainbow sps :O

[coralite]

I figured I'd post the images outright for ease of viewing. It would b nice to see Steve do some additional photography with some of the NIghtSea fluorescence filters.
The following are taken from Reef Farmers

[GTR]

I understand this happened from simple contact.

Would it be possible to do this graft as an injection under the tissue of the receiving coral?

[coralite]

Before I get into any possible explanations, I want to make it clear that there is no way to know what is going on in the coral by looking at the picture. Pigments are complex proteins and you cannot induce coral tissue to produce a protein that it doesnt have the genes for so you cannot "graft" a pigment into coral tissue and expect the pigment to magically replicate itself in the coral's tissue. Something is causing the coral to produce this different pigment (or more of a pigment that previously occured in low concentrations). Our corals can however host a range of different symbiodinium types and I suspect that a transfer of zooxanthellae is what has occured here.
Not only do zooxanthellae produce green fluorescing protein (GFP) but they also have an effect on the pigments that the coral host produces. My best guess is that a very foreign type of symbiodinium has infected the coral and for some reason, it is persisting in the coral's tissue but at the same time it is remaining segregated from the original population of symbiodinium type or types.
Judging from the pictures, it appears that this pigment has spread to parts of the coral that were grown prior to the contact with the Pocilloporid. A pigment cannot infect and migrate coral tissue in this way but zooxanthellae can. Some corals will only associate with one variety of zoox. but most corals will host a range of symbiodinium types in different parts of the colony, like clade A in very brightly lit areas, clade B and C in "normal" parts of the colony and clade D in shaded regions of the sides and undersides of the corals (these are real clades BTW). You can think of corals as little ecosystems of their own where different types of symbiodinium are constantly competing for space. If indeed a zoox. infection has occured, then what we are seeing is a war between the 2 types and the frontline is readily visible as a sharp demarcation between the purple and the green.

In summation, I believe that a different zooxanthellae type has infected the coral's tissues and it is inducing the coral to produce this different pigment.
The million dollar question is what is keeping this zoox. type segregated?

[Detritivore]

what is a clade? also, tyree mentioned something like pruning in his article. do corals respond to pruning, kinda like plants do?

[coralite]

A clade is a grouping designation. Symbiodinium is a genus of zooxanthellae but they are grouped into clades A-H and these clades are the functional equivalent of a genus.
By respond I assume you mean a growing response and I dont know about all corals but acros in particular will produce more axial tips and become more densely branched in response to pruning.

[mesocosm]

Greetings All !

Before I get into any possible explanations, I want to make it clear that there is no way to know what is going on in the coral by looking at the picture.

Indeed.

My best guess is that a very foreign type of symbiodinium has infected the coral and for some reason, it is persisting in the coral's tissue but at the same time it is remaining segregated from the original population of symbiodinium type or types.

... and ...

Would it be possible to do this graft as an injection under the tissue of the receiving coral?

No need to do injections ... ...

... although finding the gastrodermis tissue layer could be a lot of fun ...

A couple of quotes from Borneman, "In many cases, free-living dinoflagellates called swarmers (or pelagic zooxanthellae) are readmitted to the tissue ... ", and ,even more interestingly ... perhaps ... "Bleaching may also be an adaptive way to swap one species or strain of zooxanthellae for another one more suited to coping with new conditions... ."

SPS are quite capable of incorporating zooxanthellae on their own. What's next? One possibility: Targeted Symbiodinium innoculations introduced into our reef ecosystems to heal injured specimens and to alter natural SPS color expression ... is this hobby cool, or what?

Twisted, psychotic Dr. Moreau-like babble?
Oh no ... the madness has already begun:

PhycoPure™ is a unique product. It contains 7 different types of microalgae as well as a dinoflagellate, zooxanthellae.
Extracted from: http://phycopure.com/

Of course, matching strains that are acceptable to different SPS species is a whole different issue ... potentially VERY problematic (as Jake has already pointed out).

[GTR]

A couple of quotes from Borneman, "In many cases, free-living dinoflagellates called swarmers (or pelagic zooxanthellae) are readmitted to the tissue ... ", and ,even more interestingly ... perhaps ... "Bleaching may also be an adaptive way to swap one species or strain of zooxanthellae for another one more suited to coping with new conditions... ."

So why is it that this is not a common thing in our over crowded tanks? Or is it and we just think it's something else happening?

Is it known if the different clad types have different preferences other than light, such as nutrient level or specific elements?

SteveU

[mesocosm]

Greetings All !

what is a clade?

A systematics question ... cool

A clade is a grouping designation.

Fair enough ... so please forgive a little expansion. If you really want to appreciate the concept of "clade", then you'll need a little grounding in "cladistics."


Cladistics
This is the most prominent of several methods of phylogenetic systematics. Phylogenetic systematics occupies itself by researching evolutionary relationships, by descent, of living things. Cladistics is a method of rigorous analysis, using "shared derived properties" (synapomorphies). Cladistic analysis forms the basis for most modern systems of classification, which seek to group organisms by evolutionary relationships.

Based on a wide variety of information, including genetic analysis, biochemical analysis, and analysis of morphology, treelike ("The Tree of Life" ... no kidding) relationship-diagrams called "cladograms" are drawn up to show different relationship possibilities.

In a cladogram, all organisms lie at the leaves, and each inner node is ideally binary (two-way). The two taxa on either side of a split are called sister taxa or sister groups. Each subtree, whether it contains one item or a hundred thousand items, is called a clade.


For more on Cladistics ... if you can stand it ... see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cladistics


Get used to "Cladistics" ... classical Linnean bionomial nomenclature (Kingdom, Phylum, Class ...) is dying. Molecular biology will one day render it largely irrelevant ... JMO.



As far as the emergent zooxanthellae systematics goes ... well ...

Previously thought to be a single species, molecular phylogenetic evidence over the past couple decades has shown there to be great diversity in Symbiodinium. In some cases there is specificity between host and Symbiodinium clade. More often, however, there is a ecological distribution of Symbiodinium, the symbionts switching between hosts with apparent ease. When reefs become environmentally stressed, this distribution of symbionts is related to the observed pattern of coral bleaching and recovery. Thus the distribution of Symbiodinium on coral reefs and its role in coral bleaching presents one of the most complex and interesting current problems in reef ecology.

Extracted from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endosymbiosis

And ...

Reef corals (and other marine invertebrates and protists) are hosts to a group of exceptionally diverse dinoflagellate symbionts in the genus Symbiodinium. These symbionts are critical components of coral reef ecosystems whose loss during stress-related "bleaching" events can lead to mass mortality of coral hosts and associated collapse of reef ecosystems. Molecular studies have shown these partnerships to be more flexible than previously thought, with different hosts and symbionts showing varying degrees of specificity in their associations. Further studies are beginning to reveal the systematic, ecological, and biogeographic underpinnings of this flexibility. Unusual symbionts normally found only in larval stages, marginal environments, uncommon host taxa, or at latitudinal extremes may prove critical in understanding the long-term resilience of coral reef ecosystems to environmental perturbation. The persistence of bleaching-resistant symbiont types in affected ecosystems, and the possibility of recombination among different partners following bleaching, may lead to significant shifts in symbiont community structure and elevations of future bleaching thresholds. Monitoring symbiont communities worldwide is essential to understanding the long-term response of reefs to global climate change because it will help resolve current controversy over the timescales over which symbiont change might occur. Symbiont diversity should be explicitly incorporated into the design of coral reef Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) where resistance or resilience to bleaching is a consideration.

Abstract of:
Flexibility and Specificity in Coral-algal Symbiosis: Diversity, Ecology, and Biogeography of Symbiodinium
Andrew C. Baker
Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. Vol. 34: 661-689
(Volume publication date November 2003)
Abstract

Matching zooxanthellae species with specific Cnidarians has been going on for awhile ...

(Zooxanthellae species) ........ (Cnidarian)
Symbiodinium microadriaticum .... Cassiopeia xamachana
Symbiodinium goreauii ............... Ragactis lucida
Symbiodinium kawaguti ............. Montipora verrucosa
Symbiodinium pilosum ............... Zoanthus sociatus
Symbiodinium meandrinae .......... Meandrina meandrites
Symbiodinium pulchorum ............ Aiptasia pulchella
Symbiodinium cariborum ............ Condylactus gigantea
Symbiodinium bermudense ......... Aiptasia pallida
Symbiodinium californicum ......... Anthopleura elegantissima
Symbiodinium sp. ................... Acropora cervicornis (high light)
Symbiodinium sp. .................... Acropora cervicornis (low light)
Gleodinium visucm ................... Millepora dichotoma (low light)

(From Trench, 1997)
Extracted from:
Getting Up-To-Date on Zooxanthellae
(Eric Borneman, 1998)


Some Clades and Corals Associations:

Clade Type A (Caribbean)
Montastrea cavernosa
Montastea annularis
Montastrea faveolata
Porites asteroides
Porites furcata
Porites divaricata
Porites porites
Siderastrea siderea
Acropora cervicornis
Diploria labyrinthiformis
Diploria clivosa
Mycetophyllia ferox
Leptoseris cucullata
Isophyllastria rigida
Agaricia agaracites
Agaricia tenuifolia
Agaricia lamarcki
Agaricia danae


Clade Type B (Caribbean)
Montastrea annularis
Montastrea faveolata
Diploria labyrinthiformis
Diploria strigosa
Colpophyllia natans
Eusmilia fastigiata
Meandrina meandrites
Favia fragum

Clade Type C (Caribbean)
Montastrea annularis
Montastrea faveolata
Porites asteroides
Porites colonensis
Acropora cervicornis
Acropora palmata
Stephanocoenia michelinii
Madracis mirabilis
Madracis decactis

Clade Type C (Pacific)
Pocillopora damicornis
Pocillopora elegans
Pocillopora eydouxi
Psammocora stellata
Psammocora superficialis
Gardinoseris planulata
Porites panamensis
Porites lobata
Pavona gigantea
Pavona clavus
Pavona varians

(From Baker & Rowan, 1997)
Extracted from:
Getting Up-To-Date on Zooxanthellae
(Eric Borneman, 1998)

[coralite]

So why is it that this is not a common thing in our over crowded tanks? Or is it and we just think it's something else happening?

Is it known if the different clad types have different preferences other than light, such as nutrient level or specific elements?

SteveU

I've been thinking about why this hasnt happened before also but I'll answer your easy question first. Each clade is considered to be physiologically distinct but within each clade there are types that have light, temperature, nutrient and host preferences.

I think that in our overcrowded tanks we usually have corals grow into each other which gives them time to stiffen up their defenses at the point of contact. Acroporas can sting by the use of their acontia filaments which are only released from the gastrovascular cavity (GVC) of polyps. Pocillopora is usually the loser in sweeper tentacle fights and I think that it fell on the "right" acro because A. simplex has really widely spaced polyps and I'd be willing to bet the poci landed far enough from acro polyps to prevent any real chemical warfare damage. Compared to all other acro species, A. simplex and other "smooth" "deepwater" acros have only been available to us for a couple years. I think that if the poci had landed on a more densely polyped acro there would have simply been an area of recession on the poci.

The association between corals and symbionts involves a range of chemical cues. The gateway to a corals tissue is through its GVC and any undesirable microbes and zoox. are likely to be screened before they can be allowed to enter. I think that by falling on a bare patch of coenosteum (tissue between polyps) and remaining in contact for a week, the poci's symbionts took a backdoor into the coral's tissues and now it is spreading throughout the coral.

In all likelyhood, this infection will be unstable in the long term and I wouldnt buy a very expensive frag of it, expecting it to continue to look like fudge swirl cake as it grows out. If I get the opportunity I would love to get a frag to determine what type of zoox. are present in both of the colored areas.

[mesocosm]

Greetings All !

So why is it that this is not a common thing in our over crowded tanks? Or is it and we just think it's something else happening?

We need to make the distinction between pelagic zooxanthellae ("swarmers"), and the endosymbiotic zooxanthellae which are already present in our specimens. It's not like the endosymbiotic zooxanthellae that get expelled are readily acceptable/compatible with neighboring SPS specimens.

Is it known if the different clad types have different preferences other than light, such as nutrient level or specific elements?

I haven't seen any documentation regarding other variables ... Jake?

[Ger]

the poci's symbionts took a backdoor into the coral's tissues and now it is spreading throughout the coral.

Jake, do you think that the pocci's symbionts growth is basically outpacing the growth of the acro's symbionts and ultimatly it will turn into an "acro with only pocci symbionts"?