Beavers, Kelsey M.Van Buren, Emily W.Rossin, Ashley M.Emery, Madison A.Veglia, Alex J.Karrick, Carly E.MacKnight, Nicholas J.Dimos, Bradford A.Meiling, Sonora S.Smith, Tyler B.Apprill, AmyMuller, Erinn M.Holstein, Daniel M.Correa, Adrienne M. S.Brandt, Marilyn E.Mydlarz, Laura D.2023-07-212023-07-212023Beavers, Kelsey M., Van Buren, Emily W., Rossin, Ashley M., et al.. "Stony coral tissue loss disease induces transcriptional signatures of in situ degradation of dysfunctional Symbiodiniaceae." <i>Nature Communications,</i> 14, (2023) Springer Nature: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38612-4.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/115017Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD), one of the most pervasive and virulent coral diseases on record, affects over 22 species of reef-building coral and is decimating reefs throughout the Caribbean. To understand how different coral species and their algal symbionts (family Symbiodiniaceae) respond to this disease, we examine the gene expression profiles of colonies of five species of coral from a SCTLD transmission experiment. The included species vary in their purported susceptibilities to SCTLD, and we use this to inform gene expression analyses of both the coral animal and their Symbiodiniaceae. We identify orthologous coral genes exhibiting lineage-specific differences in expression that correlate to disease susceptibility, as well as genes that are differentially expressed in all coral species in response to SCTLD infection. We find that SCTLD infection induces increased expression of rab7, an established marker of in situ degradation of dysfunctional Symbiodiniaceae, in all coral species accompanied by genus-level shifts in Symbiodiniaceae photosystem and metabolism gene expression. Overall, our results indicate that SCTLD infection induces symbiophagy across coral species and that the severity of disease is influenced by Symbiodiniaceae identity.engExcept where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.  Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the terms of the license or beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.Journal articles41467-023-38612-4https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38612-4