Windward Community College

About: Windward Community College is a education organization based out in Kaneohe, Hawaii, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Fungia scutaria & Population. The organization has 24 authors who have published 29 publications receiving 849 citations. The organization is also known as: Windward CC & WCC.

Lectin/glycan interactions play a role in recognition in a coral/dinoflagellate symbiosis.

Abstract: Summary Recognition is an important stage in the establishment of highly specific mutualistic associations. Yet, for the majority of symbioses, very few of the mechanisms involved in recognition and specificity are known. In this study, we provide evidence for a recognition mechanism at the onset of symbiosis between larvae of the coral Fungia scutaria and their endosymbiotic dinoflagellate algae. This recognition step occurs during initial cellular contact between the symbiotic partners through a lectin/glycan interaction. We determined that an intact algal cell surface was required for successful infection of F. scutaria larvae. Modification of the algal cell surface by enzymatic digestion with trypsin or N-glycosidase significantly reduced infection success, and implicated algal cell surface glycans in recognition. Using flow cytometry, a-mannose/aglucose and a-galactose residues were identified as potential recognition ligands on the algal cell surface. Finally, inhibition of these cell surface glycans significantly reduced infection of F. scutaria larvae by the algae. These data provide evidence that the algal cell surface contains glycan ligands, such as a-mannose/ a-glucose and a-galactose, which play a role in recognition during initial contact at the onset of symbiosis with F. scutaria larvae.

Host-symbiont specificity during onset of symbiosis between the dinoflagellates Symbiodinium spp. and planula larvae of the scleractinian coral Fungia scutaria

Abstract: Many corals which engage in symbioses with dinoflagellates from the genus Symbiodinium (zooxanthellae) produce offspring which initially lack zooxanthellae. These species must choose their symbionts from numerous genetically distinct strains of zooxanthellae co-occurring in the environment. In most cases, symbiosis onset results in an association between a specific host coral and a specific strain of algal symbiont. This is the first study to examine host-symbiont specificity during symbiosis onset in a larval cnidarian, and the first to examine such events in a scleractinian of any life stage. We infected planula larvae of the solitary Hawaiian scleractinian Fungia scutaria with both homologous zooxanthellae, freshly isolated from F. scutaria adults, and heterologous zooxanthellae, isolated from Montipora verrucosa, Porites compressa, and Pocillopora damicornis, three species of scleractinians which co-occur with F. scutaria. We found that homologous zooxanthellae were better able to establish symbioses with larval hosts than were heterologous isolates, by two separate measures: percent of a larval population infected, and densities of zooxanthellae per larva. We also measured algal densities in larvae over a 4-day period until the onset of settlement and metamorphosis. We found no changes in zooxanthella population densities, regardless of zooxanthella type or the light environment in which they were incubated. Strong infection of host larvae with homologous algae compared to heterologous algae suggests that there is a specificity process which occurs sometime during the early stages of infection between the partners, and which results in the establishment of a specific symbiosis.

Tsunami Generated by the Late Bronze Age Eruption of Thera (Santorini), Greece

Abstract: —Tsunami were generated during the Late Bronze Age (LBA) eruption of the island of Thera, in the southern Aegean Sea, by both caldera collapse, and by the entry of pyroclastic surges/flows and lahars/debris flows into the sea. Tsunami generated by caldera collapse propagated to the west producing deep-sea sedimentary deposits in the eastern Mediterranean Sea known as homogenites; open-ocean wave heights of about 1.9–17 m are estimated. Tsunami generated by the entry of pyroclastic flows/surges and lahars/debris flows into the sea propagated in all directions around the island; wave heights along coastal areas were about 7–12 m as estimated from newly identified tsunami deposits on eastern Thera as well as from pumice deposits found at archaeological sites on northern and eastern Crete.

Social Media Use, Body Image, and Psychological Well-Being: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Korea and the United States

Abstract: This study examined the relationships among social media use for information, self-status seeking and socializing, body image, self-esteem, and psychological well-being, and some cultural effects moderating these relationships. Americans (n = 502) and Koreans (n = 518) completed an online survey. The main findings showed that (a) social media use for information about body image is negatively related to body satisfaction in the United States and Korea, while social media use for self-status seeking regarding body image is positively related to body satisfaction only in Korea; and (b) body satisfaction has direct and indirect positive effects on psychological well-being manifested in similar ways in the United States and Korea. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Temporal and spatial infection dynamics indicate recognition events in the early hours of a dinoflagellate/coral symbiosis

Abstract: The obligate symbiotic relationship between dinoflagellates, Symbiodinium spp. and reef building corals is re-established each host generation. The solitary coral Fungia scutaria Lamarck 1801 harbors a single algal strain, Symbiodinium ITS2 type C1f (homologous strain) during adulthood. Previous studies have shown that distinct algal ITS2 types in clade C correlate with F. scutaria—Symbiodinium specificity during the onset of symbiosis in the larval stage. The present study examined the early specificity events in the onset of symbiosis between F. scutaria larvae and Symbiodinium spp., by looking at the temporal and spatial infection dynamics of larvae challenged with different symbiont types. The results show that specificity at the onset of symbiosis was mediated by recognition events during the initial symbiont—host physical contact before phagocytosis, and by subsequent cellular events after the symbionts were incorporated into host cells. Moreover, homologous and heterologous Symbiodinium sp. strains did not exhibit the same pattern of localization within larvae. When larvae were infected with homologous symbionts (C1f), ~70% of the total acquired algae were found in the equatorial area of the larvae, between the oral and aboral ends, 21 h after inoculation. In contrast, no spatial difference in algal localization was observed in larvae infected with heterologous symbionts. This result provides evidence of functional differences among gastrodermal cells, during development of the larvae. The cells in the larval equator function as nutritive phagocytes, and also appear to function as a region of enhanced symbiont acquisition in F. scutaria.