Monday, January 26 2026, 3:31 - 4:31pm Athens & Skidaway Dr. William Norfolk Biological Sciences University of Georgia Dr. William Norfolk Faculty Page Seminars Seminar Title Coral Disease and Ingestion: Investigating the Role of Heterotrophy in the Transmission of Pathogenic Vibrio spp. using a Sea Anemone Model System Seminar Abstract Understanding disease transmission in corals can be complicated given the intricacy of the holobiont and difficulties associated with ex situ coral cultivation. As a result, most of the established transmission pathways for coral disease are associated with perturbance (i.e., damage) rather than evasion of immune defenses. The front line of pathogen defense in corals is the mucus membrane. This membrane coats the surface body wall creating a semi-impermeable layer that inhibits pathogen entry from the ambient water both physically and biologically through mutualistic antagonism from resident mucus microbes. Here, we investigate ingestion as a potential pathway for the transmission of coral pathogens that evades these defenses. Using sea anemones (Exaiptasia pallida) and brine shrimp (Artemia sp.) to model coral feeding, we tracked the acquisition of the putative pathogens, Vibrio alginolyticus, V. harveyi, and V. mediterranei using green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged strains. Vibrio sp. were provided to anemones using three experimental exposures (i) direct water exposure, (ii) water exposure in the presence of a food source (non-spiked Artemia), and (iii) through a “spiked” food source (Vibrio-colonized Artemia). Ingestion of spiked Artemia resulted in a significantly greater burden of GFP-Vibrio in anemone tissue compared to both water-based exposure routes. These data suggest that ingestion can facilitate delivery of an elevated dose of pathogenic bacteria in cnidarians and may describe an important portal of entry for pathogens in the absence of perturbing conditions. **Note, this abstract is a shortened version of the abstract/importance sections of the publication associated with this work. Please feel free to add, remove, or edit any content as needed for the seminar advertising materials. If helpful, the link to the full publication can be found below: Norfolk WA, Melendez-Declet C, and Lipp EK. 2023. Coral disease and ingestion: investigating the role of heterotrophy in the transmission of pathogenic Vibrio spp. using a sea anemone (Exaiptasia pallida) model system. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 89(6): e00187-23. https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/aem.00187-23.
