Abstract
Heat shock proteins are biomarkers commonly used to determine the effects of abiotic stresses on the physiology of reef building corals. In this study the effectiveness of the Hsp60 as indicator of biotic stresses in the scleractinian coral Acropora muricata was analyzed, considering the whole holobiont. We focused on two biological interactions recognized to be important contributors to coral reef degradation such as a coral disease, the Skeleton eroding band (SEB) caused by the protozoan Halofolliculina corallasia and the algal overgrowth. In the lagoon of Magoodhoo Island (Maldives) fragments of living tissue of A. muricata exposed to these biotic factors were sampled and proteins subjected to Western analysis. The two different biological interactions trigger diverse responses on Hsp60 level. No detectable effect on Hsp60 modulation appeared in colonies subjected to algal overgrowth. On the contrary, corals displayed a robust up-regulation of Hsp60 in the fragments sampled just above the SEB dark band, where the level of Hsp60 was almost twice compared to the control colonies, indicating that the aggressive behavior of the protozoan causes cellular damage also in coral portions neighboring and along the advancing front of the infection. Portions of coral sampled distant to the SEB band showed a Hsp60 level comparable to that observed in healthy colonies. We propose Hsp60 expression as a promising tool to evaluate physiological stress caused by SEB disease in reef corals.