| 1. |
- Brakel, J., et al.
(författare)
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Modulation of the Eelgrass - Labyrinthula zosterae Interaction Under Predicted Ocean Warming, Salinity Change and Light Limitation
- 2019
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Marine Science. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-7745. ; 6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Marine infectious diseases can have large-scale impacts when they affect foundation species such as seagrasses and corals. Interactions between host and disease, in turn, may be modulated by multiple perturbations associated with global change. A case in point is the infection of the foundation species Zostera marina (eelgrass) with endophytic net slime molds (Labyrinthula zosterae), the putative agent of eelgrass wasting disease that caused one of the most severe marine pandemics across the North-Atlantic in the 1930s. The contemporary presence of L. zosterae in many eelgrass meadows throughout Europe raises the question whether such a pandemic may reappear if coastal waters become more eutrophic, warmer and less saline. Accordingly, we exposed uninfected Baltic Sea Z. marina plants raised from seeds to full factorial combinations of controlled L. zosterae inoculation, heat stress, light limitation (mimicking one consequence of eutrophication) and two salinity levels. We followed eelgrass wasting disease dynamics, along with several eelgrass responses such as leaf growth, mortality and carbohydrate storage, as well as the ability of plants to chemically inhibit L. zosterae growth. Contrary to our expectation, inoculation with L. zosterae reduced leaf growth and survival only under the most adverse condition to eelgrass (reduced light and warm temperatures). We detected a strong interaction between salinity and temperature on L. zosterae abundance and pathogenicity. The protist was unable to infect eelgrass under high temperature (27 degrees C) in combination with low salinity (12 psu). With the exception of a small positive effect of temperature alone, no further effects of any of the treatment combinations on the defense capacity of eelgrass against L. zosterae were detectable. This work supports the idea that contemporary L. zosterae isolates neither represent an immediate risk for eelgrass beds in the Baltic Sea, nor a future one under the predicted salinity decrease and warming of the Baltic Sea.
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| 2. |
- Jakobsson-Thor, Stina, et al.
(författare)
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Complex Interactions of Temperature, Light and Tissue Damage on Seagrass Wasting Disease in Zostera marina
- 2020
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Marine Science. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-7745. ; 7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The temperate seagrass species eelgrass Zostera marina can be infected by the wasting disease pathogen Labyrinthula zosterae, which is believed to have killed about 90% of the seagrass in the Atlantic Ocean in the 1930s. It is not known why this opportunistic pathogen sometimes becomes virulent, but the recurrent outbreaks may be due to a weakening of the Z. marina plants from adverse environmental changes. This study investigated the individual and interactive effects of multiple extrinsic factors (temperature, light, and tissue damage) on the host-pathogen interaction between Z. marina and L. zosterae in a fully crossed infection experiment. The degree of infection was measured as both lesion coverage and L. zosterae cell concentration. We also investigated if the treatment factors affect the chemical defense of the host, measured as the inhibitory capacity of seagrass extracts in bioassays with L. zosterae. Finally, gene expression of a set of targeted genes was quantified in order to investigate how the treatments change Z. marina's response to infection. Light had a pronounced effect on L. zosterae infection measured as lesion coverage, where reduced light conditions increased lesions by 35%. The response to light on L. zosterae cell concentration was more complex and showed significant interaction with the temperature treatment. Cell concentration was also significantly affected by physical damage, where damage surprisingly resulted in a reduced cell concentration of the pathogen. No treatment factor caused detectable decrease in the inhibitory capacity of the seagrass extracts. There were several interactive effects between L. zosterae infection and the treatment factors on Z. marina growth, and on the expression of genes associated with immune defense, phenol synthesis and primary metabolism, showing that the molecular reaction toward L. zosterae infection depends on prevailing environmental conditions. Our study shows that individual or interactive effects of light, temperature and tissue damage can affect multiple aspects of host-pathogen interactions in seagrasses. These results highlight the complexity of marine host-pathogen systems, showing that more multi-factorial investigations are needed to gain a better understanding of disease in marine plants under different environmental conditions.
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| 3. |
- Jakobsson-Thor, Stina, et al.
(författare)
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Seagrass wasting disease along a naturally occurring salinity gradient
- 2019
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Ingår i: Marine Ecology Progress Series. - : Inter-Research Science Center. - 0171-8630 .- 1616-1599. ; 614, s. 67-77
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the 1930s, outbreaks of the wasting disease pathogen Labyrinthula zosterae caused a severe reduction of the eelgrass Zostera marina meadows in the Atlantic Ocean. Many surviving populations were found in low-salinity environments, and low-salinity environments have therefore been hypothesized to act as a refuge for eelgrass against L. zosterae infection. Here, we investigated L. zosterae pathogen load and wasting disease symptoms in eelgrass over a similar to 970 km salinity gradient (6-25 PSU) along the Swedish coast. Furthermore, laboratory infection experiments and studies of inhibitory compounds were carried out to investigated whether resistance against the pathogen is correlated to differences in natural pathogen pressure among eelgrass populations. The degree of L. zosterae infection was positively correlated to salinity and the pathogen was absent in several of the eelgrass meadows in lower salinity (7-8 PSU). However, a low L. zosterae pathogen load was also found in some eelgrass populations in the lowest salinity (6 PSU). No correlation between resistance and pathogen pressure in situ was detected, and all eelgrass shoots produced chemical compounds that inhibited L. zosterae growth. These results imply that positive correlations between L. zosterae and salinity are not due to eelgrass resistance, but rather to the poor ability of L. zosterae to cope with low salinity. However, our results also indicate that some strains of L. zosterae may adapt to low salinity, and therefore there may also be a risk of wasting disease outbreaks in low-salinity eelgrass meadows, in contrast to what so far has been the general hypothesis.
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| 4. |
- Jakobsson-Thor, Stina, et al.
(författare)
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Seagrass wasting disease varies with salinity and depth in natural Zostera marina populations
- 2018
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Ingår i: Marine Ecology Progress Series. - : Inter-Research Science Center. - 0171-8630 .- 1616-1599. ; 587, s. 105-115
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the 1930s, the wasting disease pathogen Labyrinthula zosterae is believed to have killed 90% of the temperate seagrass Zostera marina in the Atlantic Ocean. Despite the devastating impact of this disease, the host?pathogen interaction is still poorly understood, and few field studies have investigated factors correlating with the prevalence and abundance of L. zosterae. The present study measured wasting disease in natural populations of Z. marina on the Swedish west coast, and showed a strong correlation between the disease and both salinity and water depth. No infection was detected in Z. marina shoots from low-salinity (13?25 PSU) meadows, whereas most shoots carried the disease in high-salinity (25?29 PSU) meadows. Shallow (1 m) living Z. marina shoots were also more infected compared to shoots in deeper (5 m) meadows. In addition, infection and transplantation experiments showed that Z. marina shoots from low-salinity meadows with low pathogen pressure were more susceptible to L. zosterae infection. The higher susceptibility could not be explained by lower content of inhibitory defense compounds in the shoots. Instead, extracts from all Z. marina shoots significantly reduced pathogen growth, suggesting that Z. marina contains inhibitory compounds that function as a constitutive defense. Overall, the results show that seagrass wasting disease is common in natural Z. marina populations in the study area and that it increases with salinity and decreases with depth. Our findings also suggest that low-salinity areas can act as a refuge against seagrass wasting disease. © The authors 2018.
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| 5. |
- Saha, M., et al.
(författare)
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Response of foundation macrophytes to near-natural simulated marine heatwaves
- 2020
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Ingår i: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 26:2, s. 417-430
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Marine heatwaves have been observed worldwide and are expected to increase in both frequency and intensity due to climate change. Such events may cause ecosystem reconfigurations arising from species range contraction or redistribution, with ecological, economic and social implications. Macrophytes such as the brown seaweed Fucus vesiculosus and the seagrass Zostera marina are foundation species in many coastal ecosystems of the temperate northern hemisphere. Hence, their response to extreme events can potentially determine the fate of associated ecosystems. Macrophyte functioning is intimately linked to the maintenance of photosynthesis, growth and reproduction, and resistance against pathogens, epibionts and grazers. We investigated morphological, physiological, pathological and chemical defence responses of western Baltic Sea F.vesiculosus and Z.marina populations to simulated near-natural marine heatwaves. Along with (a) the control, which constituted no heatwave but natural stochastic temperature variability (0HW), two treatments were applied: (b) two late-spring heatwaves (June, July) followed by a summer heatwave (August; 3HW) and (c) a summer heatwave only (1HW). The 3HW treatment was applied to test whether preconditioning events can modulate the potential sensitivity to the summer heatwave. Despite the variety of responses measured in both species, only Z.marina growth was impaired by the accumulative heat stress imposed by the 3HW treatment. Photosynthetic rate, however, remained high after the last heatwave indicating potential for recovery. Only epibacterial abundance was significantly affected in F.vesiculosus. Hence both macrophytes, and in particular F.vesiculosus, seem to be fairly tolerant to short-term marine heatwaves at least at the intensities applied in this experiment (up to 5°C above mean temperature over a period of 9days). This may partly be due to the fact that F.vesiculosus grows in a highly variable environment, and may have a high phenotypic plasticity. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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| 6. |
- Sullivan, Brooke K., et al.
(författare)
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Standard ecological and molecular research methods and techniques for Labyrinthula spp.
- 2023
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Marine Science. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-7745. ; 10
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Labyrinthula are unicellular protists occupying diverse spatial and functional niches, including various roles in host and ecological function, fatty acid production, pandemic marine disease and saprobic decomposition. Labyrinthula species span tropical and temperate climates and have been isolated from each marine coastal ecosystem tested. Our understanding of primary cellular and molecular functions of Labyrinthula has substantially progressed through a combination of increased global investments, research interest and technological advances. Recent advances in molecular techniques provide a toolkit for advancing ecological questions in marine infectious disease in seagrass meadows around the world. Here we provide a comprehensive review of relevant ecological and molecular techniques used in long-term research and the progression of Labyrinthula scholarship. Our aims in preparing this review are to: 1) share, compare and advance global Labyrinthula protocols, 2) increase accessibility to robust methodology to encourage the uptake of Labyrinthula-based questions into marine studies of molecular and ecological qualities of Labyrinthula and 3) encourage uptake of robust Labyrinthula-based questions into coastal marine studies, while also encouraging international collaborative networks across multiple fields. Lastly, we discuss gaps in the over 100 years of Labyrinthula research and opportunities for expanding research on this model marine organism.
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