Coral Symbiosis Cell Biology in the Age of Climate Crisis: Turning Discovery Into Solutions for Saving Reefs

Corals engage in a mutualistic symbiosis with intracellular photosynthetic dinoflagellates.  This intimate partnership forms the trophic and structural foundation of coral reef ecosystems.  This presentation will examine some of the cellular mechanisms underlying the establishment, maintenance and breakdown of the symbiosis in coral- and anemone-dinoflagellate partnerships.  Focus in the presentation will be on three areas. (1) Host innate immunity and symbiont strategies for modulating this immune response are central to the stability of the symbiosis and are the primary theme of the Weis Lab research program.  (2) Inter-partner cell cycle regulation is required to maintain a dynamic homeostasis and is a recent area of interest in the Weis group.  Finally, (3) I will discuss global efforts to develop solutions to the coral reef climate crisis and where coral cell biology can play a role: in the value of sea anemone model systems and in the need to develop cryopreservation techniques and germplasm repositories.