Mark Ladd

2016

2017

2018

Despite over a decade of dedicated research focus on etiology of diseases affecting Acropora palmata and A. cervicornis, many crucial aspects remain completely unknown. Questions as basic as the nature/identity of severe and devastating disease signs affecting A.cervicornis are not determined. For example, the name ‘white-band disease’ (WBD) is commonly applied to tissue-loss conditions in A.cervicornis but there is no understanding if these disease signs form a single etiology or the same etiology as the signs given the same name in A. palmata. Meanwhile, research conducted on so-called WBD in A. cervicornis populations in Panama suggested that 6% of the genetic individuals in a tested population were resistant to the disease. No evidence is available on disease resistance in cultured nor wild A. cervicornis populations in Florida.We seek to evaluate disease resistance in nursery raised Florida Keys Acropora spp. genets outplanted to natural reef sites. In FY15-16 pairwise grafting experiments were conducted in a field nursery and indicated some relative differences in disease susceptibility. Field surveys of outplants of these genotypes along with some that have not tested will allow us to evaluate the real-world performance in the context of the nursery-run disease assays.

Disease is a key threat to Acroporid corals. The identification of disease-resistant genets in Florida Keys cultured stocks would provide the means to tailor culturing and outplanting efforts to maximize disease resilience of the restored populations.. We may also be able to shed light on basic questions about disease identity in A.palmata. The identification of disease resistance traits is also a necessary step to understanding biological mechanisms of disease resistance, which could also lead to safe and effective treatments or cures.

• Florida

Other Domestic or Global Project

Closed

Completed

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