The most temperature-adapted corals have an Achilles' Heel

The corals of the Persian/Arabian Gulf are better adapted to temperature fluctuations than elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific. The Gulf is an extreme marine environment displaying the highest known summer water temperatures for any reef area. The small and shallow sea can be considered a good analogue to future conditions for the rest of the world’s oceans under global warming. The fact that corals can persist in such a demanding environment indicates that they have been able to acclimatize and selectively adapt to elevated temperature. The implication being that colonies elsewhere may be able to follow suit. This in turn provides hope that corals may, given sufficient time, similarly adapt to survive even in an impoverished form, under conditions of acidification-driven lowering of CaCO₃ saturation state, a further consequence of raised atmospheric CO₂. This paper demonstrates, however, that the uniquely adapted corals of the Gulf may, within the next three centuries, be threatened by a chronic habitat shortage brought about by the dissolution of the lithified seabed on which they rely for colonisation. This will occur due to modifications in the chemical composition of the Gulf waters due to climate change.     

Thomson Thick X-Ray Absorption in a Broad Absorption Line Quasar, PG 0946+301

We present results of new ASCA observations of the low-luminosity active galactic nucleus (LLAGN) NGC 4579 obtained on 1998 December 18 and 28, and we report on the detection of variability of an iron K emission line. The X-ray luminosities in the 2-10 keV band for the two observations are nearly identical (LX approximately 2x1041 ergs s(-1)), but they are approximately 35% larger than that measured in 1995 July by Terashima et al. An Fe K emission line is detected at 6.39+/-0.09 keV (source rest frame), which is lower than the line energy 6.73+0.13-0.12 keV in the 1995 observation. If we fit the Fe lines with a blend of two Gaussians centered at 6.39 and 6.73 keV, the intensity of the 6.7 keV line decreases, while the intensity of the 6.4 keV line increases, within an interval of 3.5 yr. This variability rules out thermal plasmas in the host galaxy as the origin of the ionized Fe line in this LLAGN. The detection and variability of the 6.4 keV line indicates that cold matter subtends a large solid angle viewed from the nucleus and that it is located within approximately 1 pc from the nucleus. It could be identified with an optically thick standard accretion disk. If this is the case, a standard accretion disk is present at the Eddington ratio of Lbol/LEdd approximately 2x10-3. A broad disk-line profile is not clearly seen, and the structure of the innermost part of accretion disk remains unclear.     

Serum antibody levels against select bacterial pathogens in Atlantic bottlenose dolphins,Tursiops truncatus,from Beaufort NC USA and Charleston Harbor,Charleston, SC,USA

Concern over the emergence of zoonotic diseases in marine organisms is growing. In response to this concern, this study set out to measure antibody activities against bacterial pathogens in Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, from the coastal estuaries of NC and SC, USA. Individuals from Charleston SC harbor, a heavily industrialized shipping harbor estuary, and from Beaufort NC, a non-shipping estuary, were examined. Purified IgG was obtained from pooled sera using ammonium sulfate precipitation steps and protein-G procedures, which was then used to generate a panel of IgG-specific monoclonal antibodies. Two of these antibodies, mAbs BB-10-2 (IgG1) and BB-32-2 (IgG2b), were then used to determine total serum IgG concentrations using a sandwich capture ELISA. Circulating IgG levels were variable between individuals and between the two pods. MAb BB-10-2 was then used in an indirect ELISA to determine serum antibody activities against several common marine bacteria as well as the human pathogens E. coli and E. coli strain 0157:H7, Vibrio parahemolyticus, V. vulnificus, V. cholerae, Mycobacteria marinum, M. fortuitum, and M. chelonae. The highest antibody activities were against mycobacteria, two of which are zoonotic pathogens. Males had the highest antibody activities, thus suggesting low cell-mediated immunity against intracellular pathogens in these individuals. T-cell proliferation in response to Con-A, an indicator of cell-mediated immune function, was then measured in the Beaufort population. Males had the lowest proliferation responses, however a negative correlation between antibody activities and T-cell proliferation in individuals could not be established for either of the Mycobacteria species. Overall, antibody activities against all bacteria, including innocuous species such as V. anguillarum, V. natrigens, and M. xenopi were highly variable between individual dolphins and the two pods, with some animals exhibiting very high activities. These studies suggests that dolphin populations should be monitored by following the health and seroprevalence of pathogens of interest in select individual animals over time.