My name is Lys Myriam Isma and I am currently a graduate student in Dr. Nikki Traylor-Knowles' Cnidarian Immunity Lab. My research focuses on Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD). I'm particularly interested in coral immune response and how corals fight off infections.

In 2014 a new coral disease, termed Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD), was discovered within and near Port Miami. SCTLD affects over 20 species of Caribbean coral. Recently literature has described the immune response to SCTLD however no research has described the early molecular responses of SCTLD, which is essential to predict disease outcomes. In this study, we repetitively sampled over 100 genotypes of Orbicella faveolata in a controlled SCTLD transmission experiment at Mote Marine Laboratory. We sampled fragments at four different timepoints: pre-exposure, early exposure (after 2 days), at the first signs of tissue loss and after 10% tissue loss. We hypothesized that fragments at early exposure time points will have an upregulation of immune response genes, based on past transcriptomic studies. Current data suggests diseased exposed fragments have over 200 significantly differentially expressed genes when compared to control fragments. This study will be the first to characterize the early molecular responses of SCTLD progression and potentially detect biomarkers that define resilient and susceptible phenotypes to this disease. From this work we will have a better grasp of SCTLD susceptibility and the role of the immune system in this pathology.

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