Giving Compass' Take:
- Environmental News Network reports on a new study showing the role of coral genes in immune response to a disease quickly spreading in the Caribbean and Florida.
- How can scientists use this information to prevent the loss of more corals to climate change and disease? What can funders do to contribute to efforts to save coral reefs?
- Read about coral nurseries sheltering threatened species.
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A new study led by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science is the first to document what coral genes are doing in response to a disease that is rapidly killing corals throughout Florida and the Caribbean. The findings can help to better understand coral immune system as new diseases emerge as the ocean warm.
The collaborative effort between researchers at the UM Rosenstiel School, Mote Marine Laboratory, and the Smithsonian Marine Station is the first to document a gene expression response of corals to stony coral tissue loss disease and that the disease causes a shared immune response in at least two coral species — mountainous star coral (O. faveolata) and great star coral (M. cavernosa).
Read the full article about the immune response of corals at Environmental News Network.