Apicomplexan and non-metazoan microeukaryotes in the thermosensitive reef-building coral Acropora hyacinthus shift in abundance throughout an extreme coral bleaching event

Athena Peterson¹Sunni Patton^2,3Emily R. Schmeltzer^1,4Carsten GB Grupstra^5,6,7Lauren I. Howe-Kerr^5,8Grace Klinges⁹Rebecca L. Maher¹⁰Adriana Messyasz¹¹Sarah Seabrook^12,13Andrew R. Thurber^1,3Adrienne MS Correa^14,5Rebecca L. Vega Thurber^1,3*

• ¹Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States
• ²Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, United States
• ³Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
• ⁴USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center, Laurel, MD, United States
• ⁵Biosciences Department, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States
• ⁶Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
• ⁷Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Davie, FL, United States
• ⁸Minderoo Foundation, Perth, WA, Australia
• ⁹Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science, Arizona State University, Hilo, HI, United States
• ¹⁰Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington, Friday Harbor, WA, United States
• ¹¹Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Molecular and Genomics Core, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
• ¹²National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Christchurch, New Zealand
• ¹³Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
• ¹⁴Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States

Coral reefs play vital roles in global marine systems and are currently facing increased threats of bleaching. Coral bleaching is heavily influenced by the host-associated microeukaryote community – most notably the dinoflagellate family Symbiodiniaceae. The apicomplexan family Corallicolidae, is the second most abundant member of the microeukaryote community, yet their role in coral health is largely unknown. To explore the role that this apicomplexan and the greater non-metazoan microeukaryotic community play in coral health, samples of a thermally sensitive scleractinian coral, Acropora hyacinthus, were collected over the course of a severe coral bleaching event and its aftermath. Through 18S rRNA gene sequencing analysis, we found that taxa within the family Corallicolidae were relatively enriched in corals during, and immediately after, the severe bleaching event as compared to before or one year after. Although utilizing 18S rRNA gene sequencing methods is not the standard for Symbiodiniaceae community profiling, we were able to observe symbiont shuffling among the Symbiodiniaceae communities, as the dominant algal symbiont shifted from the genus Cladocopium to the genus Symbiodinium following the bleaching event. Furthermore, the non-metazoan microeukaryote community displayed a general shift towards a state of dysbiosis; evidenced by substantial changes in both microeukaryote community composition and dispersion. These results offer insight into the dynamics of apicomplexans throughout the course of an increasingly common global coral reef stressor.