The Coral Health & Disease Program provides biomedical-based expertise in support
of NOAA’s National Action Plan to Conserve Coral Reefs, the Coral Reef Conservation
Program and the Coral Reef Task Force’s goals which are to understand and address
the effects of natural and anthropogenic stressors on corals and coral reef systems
to help in their preservation and protection.
The biomedical approach we are using is similar to clinical and diagnostic methodologies
of evidence-based medicine supporting three thrust areas: Discovery Science, Strategic
Research in Support of Management, and Capacity Building. Together these efforts
conduct laboratory and field based investigations to characterize causal links between
physical, chemical and/or biological stressors; understand underlying mechanism
of how stressors may affect coral health; and apply this information to designing
early-warning indicators of conditions posing risks to coral health and fitness.
Defining health status (i.e., diagnosis) and providing advance warning of deteriorating
health (i.e., prognosis) assists managers and disease specialists in understanding
the underlying nature and dynamics of the impairments observed in reefs, and can
help target management actions to specific stressors while providing valuable scientific
information for developing proactive management strategies to avert irreversible
habitat declines.
The Coral Health and Disease Program is also a matrix program with a core program
in Charleston that is integrated with several other Coral Reef Conservation Program
funded projects supporting the Coral Disease and Health Consortium (CDHC) which
is an international, voluntary network of field and laboratory scientists, coral
reef managers, and cross-agency representatives devoted to understanding coral health
and disease.
Goals
- Gain knowledge and insight into the fundamental processes governing coral health
and fitness.
- Develop tools and technologies to identify and diagnose coral health conditions.
- Use an integrated approach to identify stressors and establish causal relationships
through laboratory studies.
- Validate laboratory findings and technologies for real world situations (i.e., applied
methods of investigation.
- Develop early-warning systems to identify environmental conditions that may jeopardize
coral health and predict the consequences of natural and human-induced stresses.
- Establish a coral culture and state-of-the-art collaborative research facility where
the animals are captive-reared for investigating coral health and disease issues.
- Assist in building capacity in the coral reef community to address coral health
issues.
Capabilities
Discovery Research
- EST libraries
- Fluorescent Imaging
- Coral Disease Modelling
- biotic and Biotic Challenge Experiments
Strategic Research in support of Management
- Assay Development & Validation
- Laboratory Investigations
- Field Investigations
Capacity Building
- Coral culture – Experimental animals
- Educational Training Courses
- Consensus Building Workshops
- Advanced Technology Training
- Distance Learning
- Outbreak Investigation Teams
Staff
To view a list of the staff in this program,
visit the staff listing
Projects
- Coral Health and Disease Program: Coral Holobiont Functional Genomics, Proteomics,
and Cellular Physiology (NPD #04E00059)
- CDHC: Rapid Response (NPD #04E00063)
- CDHC: Diagnostic Criteria for Studying Biotic and Abiotic Disease Agents (NPD #04E00062)
- CDHC: Diagnostic Tool Development and Surveillance Applications (NPD #04E00061)
- CDHC: Establish Laboratory Model Coral Species for Research (NPD #07E00077)
CDHC
The Coral Disease & Health Consortium (CDHC) as an official working group to the
Coral Reef Task Force and funded through the Coral Reef Conservation Program is
implementing a series of strategic objectives to build a foundation for multidisciplinary
research, training programs, education initiatives, response tools, and data dissemination
strategies geared towards improving our ability to forecast, characterize, understand,
and mitigate coral diseases.
Products
Journal Articles
Craig A. Downs, Esti Kramarsky-Winter, Cheryl M. Woodley, Aaron Downs, Gidon Winters,
Yossi Loya, Gary K. Ostrander. 2009. Cellular pathology and histopathology of hypo-salinity
exposure on the coral Stylophora pistillata. Science of the Total Environment. Doi:10/1016/j.scitotenv.2009.05.015.
First On line
Craig A. Downs, Esti Kramarsky-Winter, Jon Martinez, Ariel Kushmaro, Cheryl M. Woodley,
Yossi Loya and Gary K. Ostrander. 2009. Symbiophagy as a cellular mechanism for
coral bleaching. Autophagy 5:2, 211-216.
Elizabeth M. Fisher, John E. Fauth, Pamela Hallock, Cheryl M. Woodley. 2007. Lesion
regeneration rates in reef-building corals (Montastraea spp.) as indicators of condition.
Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 339: 61-71.
Craig A. Downs, John E. Fauth, Dana Wetzel, Pamela Hallock, Judith F. Halas, John
C. Halas, Richard Curry and Cheryl M. Woodley. 2005. Investigating Coral Reef Degradation
at Alina’s Reef in the Florida Keys: Cellular Physiology of White Grunt (Haemulon
plumieri) as a Biological Indicator. Environ. Forensics J. 7: 15-32
Richard Owen, Carys Mitchelmore, Cheryl Woodley, Hank Trapido Rosenthal, Tamara
Galloway, Michael Depledge, Jim Readman, Lucy Buxton, Samia Sarkis, Ross Jones,
and Anthony Knap. 2005. A common sense approach for confronting coral reef decline
associated with human activities. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 51:481-485.
Craig A. Downs, Cheryl M. Woodley, Robert H. Richmond, Lynda L. Lanning and Richard
Owen. 2005. Shifting the Paradigm for Coral Reef ‘Health’ Assessment, Mar. Pollut.
Bull. 51:486-494.
Craig A. Downs, John E. Fauth, Charles E. Robinson, Richard Curry, Brenda Lanzendorf,
John C. Halas, Judith Halas, and Cheryl M. Woodley. 2005 Cellular Diagnostics and
Coral Health: Declining Coral Health in the Florida Keys. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 51:558-569.
Craig A. Downs, John E. Fauth, John Halas, Phillip Dustan, John Bemiss, and Cheryl
M. Woodley. 2002. "Oxidative Stress and Seasonal Coral Bleaching", Free Rad. in
Biol. Med. 33: 533-543.
Craig A. Downs, Robert T. Dillon, Jr., John E. Fauth, and Cheryl M. Woodley. 2001.
"A Molecular Biomarker System for Assessing the Health of Gastropods (Ilyanassa
obsoleta) Exposed to Natural and Anthropogenic Stressors", J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.
259: 189-214.
Craig A. Downs, John E. Fauth and Cheryl M. Woodley. 2001. “Molecular Biomarker
System for the Health Assessment of the Grass Shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio, Exposed
to Heat Stress, Cadmium, Endosulfan, Atrazine, Diesel Fuel and Bunker Fuel”, Mar.
Biotechnol. 3: 380-397.
Craig A. Downs, Erich Mueller, Susan Phillips, John E. Fauth and Cheryl M. Woodley.
2000. "A Molecular Biomarker System for Assessing the Health of Coral (Montastraea
faveolata) during Heat Stress, J. Mar. Biotechnol., 2:533-544.
NOAA Technical Memoranda or Book Chapters
Woodley, C.M., Bruckner, A.W., McLenon, A.L., Higgins, J.L., Galloway, S.B. and Nicholson,
J.H. 2008. Field Manual for Investigating Coral Disease Outbreaks. NOAA Technical
Memorandum NOS NCCOS 80 and CRCP 6. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Silver Spring, MD 85pp. [PDF]
Laurie J. Raymundo, Courtney S. Couch, Andrew W. Bruckner, C. Drew Harvell, Thierry
M. Work, Ernesto Weil, Cheryl M. Woodley, Eric Jordan-Dahlgren, Bette L. Willis,
Greta S. Aeby,Yui Sato. 2008. A Handbook for Coral Diseases: Guidelines for Assessment,
Monitoring and Management. Coral Reef Targeted Research and Capacity Building for
Management Program, University of Queensland, Australia. (Co-authored 3 of the 6:
Chapters 3, 5, 6)
Sylvia B. Galloway, Thierry M. Work, TM, Valerie S. Bochsler, Russell A. Harley,
Esti Kramarsky-Winter, Shawn M. McLaughlin, Carol U. Meteyer, J. Frank Morado, James
H. Nicholson, Pam G. Parnell, Esther C. Peters, Taylor L. Reynolds, David S. Rotstein,
Lou Sileo and Cheryl M. Woodley. 2007. Coral Disease and Health Workshop: Coral
Histopathology II. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS56 and CRCP 4. National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, Silver Spring, MD. 84pp. [PDF]
Craig A. Downs, Aaron G. Downs, Robert B. Jonas, Kay Briggs, Tom Capo, and Cheryl
M. Woodley. 2005. “IMCOMP-P: an assay for coral immuno-competence” In: Techniques
in Aquatic Toxicology Vol. II. Ed. G.K. Ostrander. CRC Press, Boca Raton. Pp 301-313.
Cheryl M. Woodley, Andrew W. Bruckner, Sylvia B. Galloway, Shawn M. McLaughlin,
Craig A. Downs, John E. Fauth, Emmett B. Shotts and Kristy L. Lidi. 2003. Coral
Disease and Health: A National Research Plan. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Silver Spring, MD. 72pp. [PDF]
John E. Fauth, Craig A. Downs, John C. Halas, Philip Dustan and Cheryl M. Woodley.
Mid-range prediction of coral bleaching: a molecular diagnostic system approach.
In N. Valette-Silver and D. Scavia, 2003 (Editors). Ecological Forecasting: New
Tools for Coastal and Ecosystem Management. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS
1. 116pp.
Proceedings Publications
Polson, S.W., M.L. Lundqvist, and C.M. Woodley. 2006. Systematic approach to a disease
investigation: Case example. Proceedings of the 10th International Coral Reef Symposium,
138-141.
Cheryl M. Woodley, Craig A. Downs, John E. Fauth, Erich Mueller, John C. Halas,
John A. Bemiss, Yael Ben-Haim, and Eugene Rosenberg,"A novel molecular biomarker
system to assess the physiological status of corals". In M.K. Kasim Moosa, S.Soemodihardjo,
A.Nontji, A.Soegiarto, K. Romimohtarto, Sukarno and Suharsono. 2002 (Editors) Proceedings
of the Ninth International Coral Reef Symposium, Bali, Indonesia, October 23-27
2000. Published by the Ministry of Environment, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences
and the International Society for Reef Studies. 1267-1272 pp. ISBN 979-8105-97-4.
Theses & Dissertations
Christopher Johnston - The Microbial Diversity Associated with the Gorgonian Coral
Pseudopterogorgia americana – Master of Science Thesis, Medical University of south
Carolina, Molecular and Cellular Biology and Pathobiology Program, Marine Biomedicine
and Environmental Science Center, August 2005 [PDF]
Jacqueline L. Shapo – An Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activity in the Common Seawhip,
Leptogorgia virgulata (Lamarck) – Master of Science Thesis, College of Charleston,
April 2006 [PDF]
Daniel Tyler Pettay - Effects of the Antifouling Algaecide, Irgarol 1051, On Cultured
Zooxanthellae(Genus Symbiodinium) – Masters Of Science Thesis, College of Charleston,
August 2006 [PDF]
Elizabeth M. Fisher - Assessing the Health of Coral Reef Ecosystems in the Florida
Keys at Community, Individual, and Cellular Scales - Doctor of Philosophy, College
of Marine Science, University of South Florida, March 2007 [PDF]
Shawn William Polson - Comparative Analysis of Microbial Community Structure Associated
with Acroporid Corals during a Disease Outbreak in the Florida Reef Tract - Doctor
of Philosophy, Medical University of South Carolina, Molecular and Cellular Biology
and Pathobiology Program, Marine Biomedicine and Environmental Sciences Center,
December 2007[PDF]
Other Products
Instructional Videos & other Products
- Histological Techniques for Coral Tissues – Kathy Price, Dorothy Howard, & Cheryl
Woodley
- Disease Outbreak Investigation & Coral Collection Techniques - Cheryl Woodley, Richard
Curry, Margaret Miller, Dana Williams, Robert Jonas and Dorothy Howard.
- Coral Histology & Pathology Distance Learning Tool using Virtual Slides – Cheryl
Woodley, Margaret Rotstein, Teri Rowles
- Coral Illustrations
- Presentations (Powerpoints)
Movie and Photo Catalogue
- Cnidarian Species
- Field Images
- Fungia eating (movie)
- Nematostella eating (movie)
Databases
- Coral Culture Stock
- CDHC members
- Disease Event Information
Brochures
- CDHC: Coral Disease & Health Consortium [PDF]
- CDHC: Coral Disease Outbreak and Unusual Mortality Event Response Program [PDF]
- Coral Culture & Collaborative Research Facility [PDF]
- Atlas of Cnidarian Fluorescent Images and Spectra [PDF]