Differential molecular biomarker expression in corals over a gradient of water quality stressors in Maunalua Bay, Hawaii.

Coral reefs globally face unprecedented challenges from anthropogenic stressors, necessitating innovative approaches for effective assessment and management. Molecular biomarkers, particularly those related to protein expressions, provide a promising avenue for diagnosing coral health at the cellular level. This study employed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays to evaluate stress responses in the coral along an environmental gradient in Maunalua Bay, Hawaii.

Assessing in vivo mutation frequencies and creating a high-resolution genome-wide map of fitness costs of Hepatitis C virus.

Like many viruses, Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) has a high mutation rate, which helps the virus adapt quickly, but mutations come with fitness costs. Fitness costs can be studied by different approaches, such as experimental or frequency-based approaches. The frequency-based approach is particularly useful to estimate in vivo fitness costs, but this approach works best with deep sequencing data from many hosts are.

SIV Evolutionary Dynamics in Cynomolgus Macaques during SIV- Co-Infection.

Co-infection with (Mtb) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a worldwide public health concern, leading to worse clinical outcomes caused by both pathogens. We used a non-human primate model of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-Mtb co-infection, in which latent Mtb infection was established prior to SIV infection. The evolutionary dynamics of SIV was evaluated from samples in plasma, lymph nodes, and lungs (including granulomas) of SIV-Mtb co-infected and SIV only control animals.

Comparative Analysis of Within-Host Mutation Patterns and Diversity of Hepatitis C Virus Subtypes 1a, 1b, and 3a.

Understanding within-host evolution is critical for predicting viral evolutionary outcomes, yet such studies are currently lacking due to difficulty involving human subjects. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an RNA virus with high mutation rates. Its complex evolutionary dynamics and extensive genetic diversity are demonstrated in over 67 known subtypes.

Physiological and molecular responses of lobe coral indicate nearshore adaptations to anthropogenic stressors.

Corals in nearshore marine environments are increasingly exposed to reduced water quality, which is the primary local threat to Hawaiian coral reefs. It is unclear if corals surviving in such conditions have adapted to withstand sedimentation, pollutants, and other environmental stressors. Lobe coral populations from Maunalua Bay, Hawaii showed clear genetic differentiation between the 'polluted, high-stress' nearshore site and the 'less polluted, lower-stress' offshore site.

CpG-creating mutations are costly in many human viruses.

Mutations can occur throughout the virus genome and may be beneficial, neutral or deleterious. We are interested in mutations that yield a C next to a G, producing CpG sites. CpG sites are rare in eukaryotic and viral genomes.

Genetic structure is stronger across human-impacted habitats than among islands in the coral .

We examined genetic structure in the lobe coral among pairs of highly variable and high-stress nearshore sites and adjacent less variable and less impacted offshore sites on the islands of Oahu and Maui, Hawaii. Using an analysis of molecular variance framework, we tested whether populations were more structured by geographic distance or environmental extremes. The genetic patterns we observed followed isolation by environment, where nearshore and adjacent offshore populations showed significant genetic structure at both locations (AMOVA = 0.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the lobe coral (Anthozoa: Scleractinia) sequenced using ezRAD.

The mitochondrial genome of the coral was sequenced using ezRAD. The assembled genome consists of 18,647 bp, including 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes and two transfer RNA genes. The gene arrangement was consistent with other scleractinian coral mitochondrial genomes.