Morphological and Genetic Recovery of Coral Polyps After Bail-Out

Contemporary advances in microfluidic and molecular techniques have enabled coral studies to shift from reef and colony scales to polyp- and molecular-level investigations. Polyp bail-out provides an alternative approach to acquire solitary polyps for studies at finer scales. Although induction of p...

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Main Authors: Po-Shun Chuang, Kota Ishikawa, Satoshi Mitarai
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-03-01
Series:Frontiers in Marine Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.609287/full
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spelling doaj-390c55bc6d844cee80a470bf913f4b642021-03-25T09:20:10ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452021-03-01810.3389/fmars.2021.609287609287Morphological and Genetic Recovery of Coral Polyps After Bail-OutPo-Shun ChuangKota IshikawaSatoshi MitaraiContemporary advances in microfluidic and molecular techniques have enabled coral studies to shift from reef and colony scales to polyp- and molecular-level investigations. Polyp bail-out provides an alternative approach to acquire solitary polyps for studies at finer scales. Although induction of polyp bail-out has been reported in several studies, polyp health after bail-out has not been investigated. In this study, we monitored morphological and genetic changes in Pocillopora acuta polyps after bail-out induced by hyperosmosis. In isosmotic conditions, over 80% of bailed-out polyps survived, of which half regenerated normal polyp morphology within 5 days, including a polarized polyp body, extended tentacles, and a distinguishable oral disk. In contrast, the remaining polyps degenerated into tissue ball-like structures that resemble multicellular aggregates reported in earlier studies. In morphologically recovered polyps, transcriptomic analysis showed that ∼87% of genes altered during bail-out induction recovered from stress status, suggesting resumption of metabolism, cell division, and immunity, while in degenerated polyps, only ∼71% of genes recovered. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction data further demonstrated that genetic recovery of energy production, cell proliferation, and immune response was achieved in morphologically recovered polyps within 3 days after bail-out, but was not fully accomplished in degenerated polyps even after 5 days. Our findings indicate that solitary polyps generated by hyperosmosis-induced bail-out can recover rapidly from physiological stress under laboratory conditions, suggesting that bailed-out polyps could be used as new models for coral research.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.609287/fullpolyp bail-outmicropropagationpolyp recoverygeneticsmetabolism
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Po-Shun Chuang
Kota Ishikawa
Satoshi Mitarai
spellingShingle Po-Shun Chuang
Kota Ishikawa
Satoshi Mitarai
Morphological and Genetic Recovery of Coral Polyps After Bail-Out
Frontiers in Marine Science
polyp bail-out
micropropagation
polyp recovery
genetics
metabolism
author_facet Po-Shun Chuang
Kota Ishikawa
Satoshi Mitarai
author_sort Po-Shun Chuang
title Morphological and Genetic Recovery of Coral Polyps After Bail-Out
title_short Morphological and Genetic Recovery of Coral Polyps After Bail-Out
title_full Morphological and Genetic Recovery of Coral Polyps After Bail-Out
title_fullStr Morphological and Genetic Recovery of Coral Polyps After Bail-Out
title_full_unstemmed Morphological and Genetic Recovery of Coral Polyps After Bail-Out
title_sort morphological and genetic recovery of coral polyps after bail-out
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Marine Science
issn 2296-7745
publishDate 2021-03-01
description Contemporary advances in microfluidic and molecular techniques have enabled coral studies to shift from reef and colony scales to polyp- and molecular-level investigations. Polyp bail-out provides an alternative approach to acquire solitary polyps for studies at finer scales. Although induction of polyp bail-out has been reported in several studies, polyp health after bail-out has not been investigated. In this study, we monitored morphological and genetic changes in Pocillopora acuta polyps after bail-out induced by hyperosmosis. In isosmotic conditions, over 80% of bailed-out polyps survived, of which half regenerated normal polyp morphology within 5 days, including a polarized polyp body, extended tentacles, and a distinguishable oral disk. In contrast, the remaining polyps degenerated into tissue ball-like structures that resemble multicellular aggregates reported in earlier studies. In morphologically recovered polyps, transcriptomic analysis showed that ∼87% of genes altered during bail-out induction recovered from stress status, suggesting resumption of metabolism, cell division, and immunity, while in degenerated polyps, only ∼71% of genes recovered. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction data further demonstrated that genetic recovery of energy production, cell proliferation, and immune response was achieved in morphologically recovered polyps within 3 days after bail-out, but was not fully accomplished in degenerated polyps even after 5 days. Our findings indicate that solitary polyps generated by hyperosmosis-induced bail-out can recover rapidly from physiological stress under laboratory conditions, suggesting that bailed-out polyps could be used as new models for coral research.
topic polyp bail-out
micropropagation
polyp recovery
genetics
metabolism
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.609287/full
work_keys_str_mv AT poshunchuang morphologicalandgeneticrecoveryofcoralpolypsafterbailout
AT kotaishikawa morphologicalandgeneticrecoveryofcoralpolypsafterbailout
AT satoshimitarai morphologicalandgeneticrecoveryofcoralpolypsafterbailout
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