Graduate Student - Ph.D.

ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and School of Marine and Tropical Biology

James Cook University and Newcastle University

Bette L Willis, John C Bythell

The basic biological mechanisms of scleractinian immunity

The focus of my current research is to identify and investigate the basic biological mechanisms of hard coral (scleractinian) immunity. This represents an emerging yet timely field in coral biology and stems from my previous and ongoing research of coral disease. Within the broad topic of scleractinian immunity, a primary goal is to determine the presence of immune resistance mechanisms that are well characterised for other invertebrates. Of high importance is melanin and the associated biochemical pathway, which I have now identified in multiple coral species both biochemically and histologically, with molecular investigation currently underway. Additionally, I am conducting research into the identification and characterisation of cellular responses to mechanical injury. Despite their apparent ubiquity within the metazoa, cells with phagocytic potential have not been conclusively documented within scleractinians. As well as investigating mechanisms described for other organisms, I am hoping to elucidate reasons for the correlation between compromised coral tissue and the localised upregulation of fluorescent proteins. Although fluorescent proteins are common throughout the anthozoa their function remains undetermined. With the coincident increase in disease and climatic change, characterisation of the immune suite at the coral’s disposal is key, in addition to determining the impact of the changing environment on these mechanisms.