Mary Alice Coffroth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1954 [1] Somerset, PA |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Marine Biology |
| Institutions | State University of New York at Buffalo |
| Thesis | Mucous sheet production by poritid corals (1988) |
Mary Alice Coffroth is an American marine biologist who is a professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She is known for her use of molecular tools to examined coral larval ecology, recruitment and cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis.
Coffroth has a B.S. from the College of William and Mary (1976), and an M.S. (1981) and a Ph.D. (1988) from the University of Miami. [1] In 1990 she joined the State University of New York at Buffalo where, as of 2023, she is a professor in the geology department. [2]
Her PhD research focused on the production of coral mucus by poritid corals and its role in the reef ecosystem. [3] She was an early adopter of molecular approaches in marine ecology initially examining gorgonian population genetics using DNA fingerprinting, [4] followed by research into the molecular taxonomy of cnidarian photosymbionts. [5] Coffroth has used the underwater research station Aquarius Reef Base to study genetic differences in corals. [6] Her work on coral spawning in the Caribbean has shown how corals can initially take up a range of symbiont species which are then winnowed to a predictable subset of the available species. [7] She has also examined how coral symbionts are responding to climate change and increasing sea water temperatures. [8] [9] She established a culture collection with Caribbean corals and octocorals, the BURR Culture Collection, which is used to examine the relationship between corals and their symbiotic algae. [10]
An endosymbiont or endobiont is any organism that lives within the body or cells of another organism most often, though not always, in a mutualistic relationship. (The term endosymbiosis is from the Greek: ἔνδον endon "within", σύν syn "together" and βίωσις biosis "living".) Examples are nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which live in the root nodules of legumes, single-cell algae inside reef-building corals and bacterial endosymbionts that provide essential nutrients to insects.
Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.
Zooxanthellae is a colloquial term for single-celled dinoflagellates that are able to live in symbiosis with diverse marine invertebrates including demosponges, corals, jellyfish, and nudibranchs. Most known zooxanthellae are in the genus Symbiodinium, but some are known from the genus Amphidinium, and other taxa, as yet unidentified, may have similar endosymbiont affinities. The true Zooxanthella K.brandt is a mutualist of the radiolarian Collozoum inerme and systematically placed in Peridiniales. Another group of unicellular eukaryotes that partake in similar endosymbiotic relationships in both marine and freshwater habitats are green algae zoochlorellae.
Symbiodinium is a genus of dinoflagellates that encompasses the largest and most prevalent group of endosymbiotic dinoflagellates known. These unicellular microalgae commonly reside in the endoderm of tropical cnidarians such as corals, sea anemones, and jellyfish, where the products of their photosynthetic processing are exchanged in the host for inorganic molecules. They are also harbored by various species of demosponges, flatworms, mollusks such as the giant clams, foraminifera (soritids), and some ciliates. Generally, these dinoflagellates enter the host cell through phagocytosis, persist as intracellular symbionts, reproduce, and disperse to the environment. The exception is in most mollusks, where these symbionts are intercellular. Cnidarians that are associated with Symbiodinium occur mostly in warm oligotrophic (nutrient-poor), marine environments where they are often the dominant constituents of benthic communities. These dinoflagellates are therefore among the most abundant eukaryotic microbes found in coral reef ecosystems.
Mastigias is a genus of true jellyfish in the family Mastigiidae. It contains seven described species. Members of this genus are found widely in coastal regions of the Indo-Pacific, including saline lakes of Palau, but there are also records from the West Atlantic at Florida and Puerto Rico. The West Atlantic records are most likely the result of accidental introductions by humans.
Aiptasia is a genus of a symbiotic cnidarian belonging to the class Anthozoa. Aiptasia is a widely distributed genus of temperate and tropical sea anemones of benthic lifestyle typically found living on mangrove roots and hard substrates. These anemones, as well as many other cnidarian species, often contain symbiotic dinoflagellate unicellular algae of the genus Symbiodinium living inside nutritive cells. The symbionts provide food mainly in the form of lipids and sugars produced from photosynthesis to the host while the hosts provides inorganic nutrients and a constant and protective environment to the algae. Species of Aiptasia are relatively weedy anemones able to withstand a relatively wide range of salinities and other water quality conditions. In the case of A. pallida and A. pulchella, their hardiness coupled with their ability to reproduce very quickly and out-compete other species in culture gives these anemones the status of pest from the perspective of coral reef aquarium hobbyists. These very characteristics make them easy to grow in the laboratory and thus they are extensively used as model organisms for scientific study. In this respect, Aiptasia have contributed a significant amount of knowledge regarding cnidarian biology, especially human understanding of cnidarian-algal symbioses, a biological phenomenon crucial to the survival of corals and coral reef ecosystems. The dependence of coral reefs on the health of the symbiosis is dramatically illustrated by the devastating effects experienced by corals due to the loss of algal symbionts in response to environmental stress, a phenomenon known as coral bleaching.
Cyanobionts are cyanobacteria that live in symbiosis with a wide range of organisms such as terrestrial or aquatic plants; as well as, algal and fungal species. They can reside within extracellular or intracellular structures of the host. In order for a cyanobacterium to successfully form a symbiotic relationship, it must be able to exchange signals with the host, overcome defense mounted by the host, be capable of hormogonia formation, chemotaxis, heterocyst formation, as well as possess adequate resilience to reside in host tissue which may present extreme conditions, such as low oxygen levels, and/or acidic mucilage. The most well-known plant-associated cyanobionts belong to the genus Nostoc. With the ability to differentiate into several cell types that have various functions, members of the genus Nostoc have the morphological plasticity, flexibility and adaptability to adjust to a wide range of environmental conditions, contributing to its high capacity to form symbiotic relationships with other organisms. Several cyanobionts involved with fungi and marine organisms also belong to the genera Richelia, Calothrix, Synechocystis, Aphanocapsa and Anabaena, as well as the species Oscillatoria spongeliae. Although there are many documented symbioses between cyanobacteria and marine organisms, little is known about the nature of many of these symbioses. The possibility of discovering more novel symbiotic relationships is apparent from preliminary microscopic observations.
Stichodactyla helianthus, commonly known as sun anemone, is a sea anemone of the family Stichodactylidae. Helianthus stems from the Greek words ἡλιος, and ἀνθος, meaning flower. S. helianthus is a large, green, sessile, carpet-like sea anemone, from the Caribbean. It lives in shallow areas with mild to strong currents.
Pocillopora damicornis, commonly known as the cauliflower coral or lace coral, is a species of stony coral in the family Pocilloporidae. It is native to tropical and subtropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Litophyton arboreum, also known as broccoli coral, is a common soft coral (octocoral) found from the Red Sea to the Western Pacific. It grows up to 80 cm, usually on seaward reef slopes or hard bottoms. The color of L. arboreum varies from pale olive-green to yellow or grey. L. arboreum are anthozoans in the order Alcyonacea in the family Nephtheidae. The L. arboreum was originally classified in 1775 by Peter Forsskål, a Swedish Linnaean naturalist. As of 2016, the entire genus Litophyton was reclassified using phylogenetic data, in contrast to its original morphological classification.
Durusdinium trenchii is an endosymbiotic dinoflagellate, a unicellular alga which commonly resides in the tissues of tropical corals. It has a greater tolerance to fluctuations in water temperatures than do other species in the genus. It was named for the marine biologist R. K. Trench.
Microbial symbiosis in marine animals was not discovered until 1981. In the time following, symbiotic relationships between marine invertebrates and chemoautotrophic bacteria have been found in a variety of ecosystems, ranging from shallow coastal waters to deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Symbiosis is a way for marine organisms to find creative ways to survive in a very dynamic environment. They are different in relation to how dependent the organisms are on each other or how they are associated. It is also considered a selective force behind evolution in some scientific aspects. The symbiotic relationships of organisms has the ability to change behavior, morphology and metabolic pathways. With increased recognition and research, new terminology also arises, such as holobiont, which the relationship between a host and its symbionts as one grouping. Many scientists will look at the hologenome, which is the combined genetic information of the host and its symbionts. These terms are more commonly used to describe microbial symbionts.
A holobiont is an assemblage of a host and the many other species living in or around it, which together form a discrete ecological unit through symbiosis, though there is controversy over this discreteness. The components of a holobiont are individual species or bionts, while the combined genome of all bionts is the hologenome. The holobiont concept was initially introduced by the German theoretical biologist Adolf Meyer-Abich in 1943, and then apparently independently by Dr. Lynn Margulis in her 1991 book Symbiosis as a Source of Evolutionary Innovation. The concept has evolved since the original formulations. Holobionts include the host, virome, microbiome, and any other organisms which contribute in some way to the functioning of the whole. Well-studied holobionts include reef-building corals and humans.
Phyllodesmium poindimiei is an Alcyonacea feeding, aeolid nudibranch Gastropod belonging to the family Facelinidae. Cerata are important in this clade in terms of their physical defense and efficient metabolic processes. This species is spread sporadically along tropical coastal regions such as Australia, Hawaii, and the Indo-Pacific living in diverse marine habitats such as coral reefs. Unlike other species in the Opisthobranch Mollusca clade, P. poindimiei’s lush pink cerata are used for defensive purposes other than Nematocyst (dinoflagellate) capture and toxin release. Organismal ties within these thriving, tropical ecosystems can be determinants of environment change, which affects massive coral ecosystems. Continuously changing marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs, are directly linked to the evolution of organisms that live and thrive in the tropics such as the soft nudibrach P. poindimiei.
A symbiosome is a specialised compartment in a host cell that houses an endosymbiont in a symbiotic relationship.
Waminoa is a genus of acoels which are epizoic on living corals, using the coral's mucus as a source of food. Unusually, these acoels harbor two genera of endosymbiotic dinoflagellates: Symbiodinium and Amphidinium; it is not typical for two different genera of dinoflagellates to coexist in a single host. Waminoa's host coral may also contain dinoflagellates of the genus Symbiodinium but not Amphidinium.
Robert Kent Trench was an American Biologist who was a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research considered corals and symbiotic algae, with a focus on the adaption of zooxanthellae. He was awarded the 1994 International Society of Endocytobiology Miescher-Ishida Prize.
Conopea galeata is a species of colonial barnacle in the family Archaeobalanidae. It lives exclusively on gorgonians in the western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
Symbiodiniaceae is a family of marine dinoflagellates notable for their symbiotic associations with reef-building corals, sea anemones, jellyfish, marine sponges, giant clams, acoel flatworms, and other marine invertebrates. Symbiotic Symbiodiniaceae are sometimes colloquially referred to as Zooxanthellae, though the latter term can be interpreted to include other families of symbiotic algae as well. While many Symbiodiniaceae species are endosymbionts, others are free living in the water column or sediment.
Durusdinium is a genus of dinoflagellate algae within the family Symbiodiniaceae. Durusdinium can be free living, or can form symbiotic associations with hard corals. Members of the genus have been documented in reef-building corals of the Indian and Pacific oceans, as well as the Caribbean. Prior to 2018, Durusdinium were classified as Symbiodinium Clade D.