Yet Another Crazy ReefGen Story..

[uniquecorals]

The term "Limited Edition" has, in our opinion, been somewhat misused in the hobby over the years.

Here, however, is specimen that truly deserves the "LE" designation: A one-of-a-kind grafted Acanthastrea echinata by ReefGen's master propagator/rocker/scientist, the one and only Justin Credabel.

This thing is just plain cool!

According to Justin, "This is a graft of two Acanthastrea echinata. The graft between these two exhibit transitory fusion (temporary fusion of soft tissue) and show a classic 'let's just get along' skeletal boundry between the two donor grafts that seperate them. The two colonies do exchange symbiotic organisms that help influence each other's color."

Loving this coral...There is a reason why we are called "Unique Corals". and this is a sterling example!

Acanthastrea echinata - ReefGen "Justin' s Fusion Acan Echinata" 1.5" WYSIWYG Specimen - REEFGEN - CORAL

 

[Pkunk35]

So in this case, the soft tissue is fused together but not the skeleton? Interesting. Do you know if the pieces will ever share genetic material?

Is this the general definition of "grafting" for corals?


Beautiful piece!

 

[uniquecorals]

So in this case, the soft tissue is fused together but not the skeleton? Interesting. Do you know if the pieces will ever share genetic material?

Is this the general definition of "grafting" for corals?


Beautiful piece!

I think the jury is still out on the sharing of genetic material...good question for Justin to answer...I'll touch base with him and let you know...And yes, this is the current generally accepted hobby definition of "grafting", to my understanding.

Thanks!

Scott

 

[Michelle Lemech]

Seems there was no follow up here, so I will put in my two cents. I like Justin. He's done some really fantastic work with Goniopora and come up with some innovative algae treatment solutions. He's a great all around guy! However, when I heard Justin speak on this topic back in October, as someone with an advanced degree in genetics, to me his knowledge basis and understanding on this matter could use some expanding. Yes Scott, this is simply a grafted piece, with clearly defined borders. It is unlikely to share genetic material, unless it sexual reproduces, which of course would allow for the sharing of genetic material.

I think the jury is still out on the sharing of genetic material...good question for Justin to answer...I'll touch base with him and let you know...And yes, this is the current generally accepted hobby definition of "grafting", to my understanding.

Thanks!

Scott

 

[buddythelion]

Would grafting of corals be the same level of grafting of fruit trees?

 

[Justin Credabel]

Hi All,
Yes this would be on par with grafting of fruit trees. This particluar graft only exhibitted transitory fusion of the soft tissue, periods where the soft tissue including mesoglea were all connected. Over time the two coral put up there own skeletal boundaries, and has been described in scientific papers as "hard tissue fusion"." There are some grafts that exhibit long term stable soft tissue fusion.

Concerning spread of genetic material, there would not be any direct transfer of genetic material from one host to other. However there can be direct exchange of symbionts including Zooxanthellae and Throstrocytrids which influence color, mostly brown for Zooxantellae and greens for Throstrocytrids.

There is ample evidnence of horizontal gene transfer among higher plants and animals. This is not a direct transfer but usually involves a virus and/or bacterial vector. The world, especially the ocean is rife with horizontal gene tranfer:
https://dspace.mote.org/dspace/handle/2075/2874

This study looks at disease resistance mainly, but some think that a similar principal is at play regarding color.

Throstrocytrids themselves can change the color of the coral, because they themselves have their own flouresence.

I know my talks can throw a lot of info out there, but I assure you it is all extensivelly researched.

That same talk also included some crazy info about neurological research done with mice and flourescent tagging of neurons. The creation of blue flourescent tagged neurons in a green tagged females brain indicated chimeric activity as opposed to gene transfer. Cells from the offpsring of the female green tagged and male blue tagged embyros passed into the mother during pregancy, and some cells formed neurons in her brain. So that case is not a case of genetic transfer but of chimerism. In fact our mothers have our cells cruising through their bodies, and we have theirs.

 

[Justin Credabel]

Michelle in the best interest of providing accurate information I also run my artilces and talks past some of the brightest minds in the field including PhDs. Some of the research is obscure, and some has nothing to do with coral in particular. I like to connect the dots and relate that information that is relevant to our hobby. I'd be happy to address any specific items you think i might not be accurate about.

Here is another more light hearted exploration of horizontal gene transfer:
Why is there Snake in my Cow?

How a quarter of the cow genome came from snakes – Phenomena: Not Exactly Rocket Science

 

[Justin Credabel]

Fully fused coral, where soft tissue is completely connected and integrated will produce offspring of one donor colony or the other. They won't produce hybrid gametes. Depending on the donor material that formed the gonad tissue,the sperm or egg will be from that one coral.

 

[buddythelion]

And this is why I love Bio. Thanks so much for posting Justin, what an amazing first post!

By horizontal gene transfer, you mentioned bacteria and virus'. I recall in a biology class that I took that bacteria can consume other bacteria and maintain part of the consumed bacteria's DNA (I'm not 100% sure it was DNA, but something along the lines of that. So please correct me if I'm wrong). Is that what you were referring to when you mentioned bacteria? And from my understanding, I think virus actually inject DNA into their host. Are these examples of gene transfer, or is it a part of how the process of grafting occurs?

For grafting to occur, does the tissue have to be cut through and exposed? My gf mentioned that she was purchasing a "fruit cocktail tree" and mentioned grafting, so I looked it up a long time ago. I think they would cut parts of the branches and attach the branch of another fruit tree onto it and then the tissues would heal together and "fuse." But that didn't mean that the genetic material on that one branch that could make oranges would all of a sudden be making oranges on another branch that was originally meant to be making lemons right? I wonder if the same has to occur with corals, because I know there are examples where the coral does not have to be connected through cut tissue but naturally grow "into" each other and show pigmentation of both corals. One that comes to mind is the morph "Nuclear Green" and "Purple Death." But then how do they end up passing the pigments over if their tissues don't fuse? I would have guessed that most corals would either kill the other or grow over one another and that they could only fuse if they shared the same cell wall material. Again, I'm a bit rusty on the bio so please correct me if I'm using terms incorrectly. And if it's not genetic material being passed over, then how come in the case of the infamous grafted monti cap, which involves a red and green colored cap, majority of people say that the red coloration ends up overtaking the green coloration because the red cap grows faster than the green cap. By faster, I mean if one started with a 1" frag of both red and green caps seperately, a few months later the red would have a significant difference in growth size. This is really interesting, and glad that you're hear to answer my questions.

Hope Got2Envy doesn't mind me showing off her amazing photo, it's a great example.

 

[Justin Credabel]

Hi Buddy,

Zoanthids pretty commonly will fuse and share color. Two ways for the green to get all mixed into the purple are either the transfer of flourescent symbionts, or when fused stem cells from one donor colony travel through the mesoglea to new growth points. When corals grow they release cells from various areas of there bodies, and these cells travel to where there are needed most, in high growth areas. Your corals growth tips are not just cells dividing at that tip, but those cells are coming from all over the coral. This can give you the striated effect seen in some fused coral. This is often how coral look after they grow out after being fused as larvae.

Sometimes coral will fuse but this striation does not occur, or only in very small amounts at the boundary. There is obviously something more complex going on with each coral's immune system, or cell signalling which leads cells to settle in high growth areas in these cases. This form of fusion is often seen in Goniastrea.

While the coral don't have wholesale gene swapping, it obviously doeas occur on some level due to Gene Transfer Agents in bacteria and viral transmission.

Also we can't forget about epi-genetics, the turning off and on of genes which is passed down to daughter cells. This also true for random mutations in assexually propagated organisms like bacteria, plats, and coral. The genetic variation between the top of a tree and the bottom of the tree can be larger than the genetic variation between two seperate trees. (Tree's leaves genetically different from its roots : Nature News & Comment ) These downstream epi-genetic changes are what help coral adapt to our aquariums, and possibly change color or other growth characteristics.

 

[Justin Credabel]

... and here are some definitions for grafting. Replace plant with coral:

graft ¹(gr

ft) v. graft·ed, graft·ing, grafts
v.tr. 1. a. To unite (a shoot or bud) with a growing plant by insertion or by placing in close contact.
b. To join (a plant or plants) by such union.

2. To transplant or implant (living tissue, for example) surgically into a bodily part to replace a damaged part or compensate for a defect.
3. To join or unite closely: graft new customs onto old.

v.intr. 1. To make a graft.
2. To be or become joined.

n. 1. a. A detached shoot or bud united or to be united with a growing plant.
b. The union or point of union of a detached shoot or bud with a growing plant by insertion or attachment.
c. A plant produced by such union.

2. a. Material, especially living tissue or an organ, surgically attached to or inserted into a bodily part to replace a damaged part or compensate for a defect.
b. The procedure of implanting or transplanting such material.
c. The configuration or condition resulting from such a procedure.

 

[uniquecorals]

Justin,

Thanks for chiming in with some great information!

It's funny, we were just having a discussion about zoanthid color this weekend...very timely!

-Scott

 

[Alex27]

very interesting conversation, I've also seen where some hobbyist have done this with monti caps and the results are amazing.

 

[buddythelion]

Many thanks Justin for replying. I love reading things like this, can't thank you enough. Was a real pleasure! If only coral magazines would have detailed information like your posts! This is why I love my hobby.