Peer-Reviewed Publications
The Emergence and Initial Impact of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) in the United States Virgin Islands
Brandt ME, Ennis RS, Meiling SS, Townsend J, Cobleigh K, Glahn A, Quetel J, Brandtneris V, Henderson LM and Smith TB (2021)
Diversity and Disease: The Effects of Coral Diversity on Prevalence and Impacts of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Costa SV, Hibberts SJ, Olive DA, Budd KA, Long AE, Meiling SS, Miller MB, Vaughn KM, Carrión CI, Cohen MB, Savage AE, Souza MF, Buckley L, Grimes KW, Platenberg R, Smith TB, Blondeau J and Brandt ME (2021)
Variable Species Responses to Experimental Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) Exposure
Meiling SS, Muller EM, Lasseigne D, Rossin A, Veglia AJ, MacKnight N, Dimos B, Huntley N, Correa AMS, Smith TB, Holstein DM, Mydlarz LD, Apprill A and Brandt ME (2021)
Experimental transmission of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease results in differential microbial responses within coral mucus and tissue
Huntley, N., Brandt, M.E., Becker, C.C. et al. (2022)
OnGoing Research Projects
Disease Wheel Monitoring- UVI; CORE, Coral World Ocean Park
Tagging of Colpophylia natans colonies across St. Thomas and St. John, assessing disease incidence in surrounding area via 3-5m radiual transect. clustering of disease, disease prevalence through time, and impacts (change in coral/sponge/algae cover) are monitored for 6 months to 1 year. Some sites were provided general treatment via strike teams, others intentionally left alone to investigate site-level effects of colony treatments
Pro-biotics development- UVI; Smithsonian
Samples of apparently resistant genets of M. cavernosa and P. strigosa will be shipped to Dr. Valerie Paul at the Smithsonian for development of probiotics. Multiple variants will be lab-tested at UVI until a successful consortium is identified.
VcpA assays- UVI; Smithsonian
Comparing antibiotic efficacy on SCTLD-affected corals among VcpA concentrations
Orbicella annularis disease outplanting- UVI
Investigating successful techniques for outplanting O. annularis on reefs with active disease. Comparing fates of fragments of mulitple sizes and health state (recently fragged v. healed). The experimental design mimics that of the TNC-UVI laboratory transmission experiment in December 2020
Field Amputation Trials- UVI
Evaluating effectiveness of lesion amputation of SCTLD lesions in the field. Lesions are removed from the site and the amputation margin is covered with modelling clay to prevent further infection
Amputation/Amoxicillin Dosing- UVI; Coral World Ocean Park
Based on the successful methods of lab-treating D. cylindrus in FL, investigating the effectiveness of applying an extended (10-14) amoxicillin water dosing regimen to halt lesions and heal corals of SCTLD. Small corals are fragmented and treated either via amoxicillin dosing, amputation, treatment with Base2b, or left as control
Non-Antibiotic Treatments- Mote Marine Lab; National Park Service, Ocean Alchemists
Dr. Erinn Muller and her team from Mote Marine Laboratory is testing new non-antibiotic based formulations with antiviral components to treat stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) in the National Park waters around St. John, USVI. In May 2021, the Mote team tested the new ointment on four coral species: Orbicella franksi, Orbicella annularis, Montastraea cavernosa, and Pseudodiploria strigosa. This initial formulation failed to prevent further SCTLD progression and coral death; however, the Base2B and amoxicillin treatment worked well -- halting progression at the treated lesion on 87% of the colonies treated. In ongoing research, Dr. Muller and team is returning to St. John at the end of August to test two new Ocean Alchemist formulations that increase the amount of the anti-viral component and have a longer release time in hopes that a non-antibiotic treatment can be found effective for SCTLD.
SCTLD effects on cleaner gobies- UVI
Investigating the effect of SCTLD on Cleaner Goby abundances and behaviors
Ballast Water and SCTLD emergence- UVI; NOAA, EPA, US Coast Guard, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Investigating the association between ballast water and emergence of SCTLD across the USVI. Identifying observations of novel emergence events of SCTLD in the territory in conjunction with ship ballast water activity, available in National Ballast Information Clearinghouse (NBIC) database
Spatial modeling- LSU; UVI
Creating a coupled biophysical-epidemiological model of SCTLD in the USVI. The model will be spatially realistic, from 2019-2021 (at least!) and include high-resolution hydrodynamics to understand the depth-integrated spread of SCTLD in space and time. Testing the hypothesis that community composition and habitat heterogeneity modulate the spread of infectious coral diseases. This work may clarify which reefs and metapopulations are most important to disease dynamics and thus inform mitigation efforts.
Microbiome analyses- WHOI; UVI
Comparing tissue, mucus, and water microbiomes between apparently healthy and SCTLD-affected corals (from transmission experiment)
Histology analyses- LSU; UVI
Comparing histology of apparently healthy and SCTLD-affected corals (from transmission experiment)
Symbiont analyses- RICE University; UVI
Comparing symbiont communities between apparently healthy and SCTLD-affected corals (from transmission experiment)
Immunology analyses- UT Arlington; UVI
Comparing immunology between apparently healthy and SCTLD-affected corals (from transmission experiment)
Microbiome analyses- WHOI; UVI
Comparing tissue, mucus, and water microbiomes between apparently healthy and SCTLD-affected corals from the field