ORCID Profile
0000-0002-5867-1224
Current Organisations
The University of Texas at Austin
,
Smith College
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Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 15-06-2021
DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PBIO.3001282
Abstract: Success and impact metrics in science are based on a system that perpetuates sexist and racist “rewards” by prioritizing citations and impact factors. These metrics are flawed and biased against already marginalized groups and fail to accurately capture the breadth of in iduals’ meaningful scientific impacts. We advocate shifting this outdated value system to advance science through principles of justice, equity, ersity, and inclusion. We outline pathways for a paradigm shift in scientific values based on multidimensional mentorship and promoting mentee well-being. These actions will require collective efforts supported by academic leaders and administrators to drive essential systemic change.
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 02-05-2023
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.15023
Abstract: Within microeukaryotes, genetic variation and functional variation sometimes accumulate more quickly than morphological differences. To understand the evolutionary history and ecology of such lineages, it is key to examine ersity at multiple levels of organization. In the dinoflagellate family Symbiodiniaceae, which can form endosymbioses with cnidarians ( e.g ., corals, octocorals, sea anemones, jellyfish), other marine invertebrates ( e.g. , sponges, molluscs, flatworms), and protists ( e.g ., foraminifera), molecular data have been used extensively over the past three decades to describe phenotypes and to make evolutionary and ecological inferences. Despite advances in Symbiodiniaceae genomics, a lack of consensus among researchers with respect to interpreting genetic data has slowed progress in the field and acted as a barrier to reconciling observations. Here, we identify key challenges regarding the assessment and interpretation of Symbiodiniaceae genetic ersity across three levels: species, populations, and communities. We summarize areas of agreement and highlight techniques and approaches that are broadly accepted. In areas where debate remains, we identify unresolved issues and discuss technologies and approaches that can help to fill knowledge gaps related to genetic and phenotypic ersity. We also discuss ways to stimulate progress, in particular by fostering a more inclusive and collaborative research community. We hope that this perspective will inspire and accelerate coral reef science by serving as a resource to those designing experiments, publishing research, and applying for funding related to Symbiodiniaceae and their symbiotic partnerships.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-08-2019
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.14764
Abstract: Climate change threatens organisms in a variety of interactive ways that requires simultaneous adaptation of multiple traits. Predicting evolutionary responses requires an understanding of the potential for interactions among stressors and the genetic variance and covariance among fitness‐related traits that may reinforce or constrain an adaptive response. Here we investigate the capacity of Acropora millepora , a reef‐building coral, to adapt to multiple environmental stressors: rising sea surface temperature, ocean acidification, and increased prevalence of infectious diseases. We measured growth rates (weight gain), coral color (a proxy for Symbiodiniaceae density), and survival, in addition to nine physiological indicators of coral and algal health in 40 coral genets exposed to each of these three stressors singly and combined. In idual stressors resulted in predicted responses (e.g., corals developed lesions after bacterial challenge and bleached under thermal stress). However, corals did not suffer substantially more when all three stressors were combined. Nor were trade‐offs observed between tolerances to different stressors instead, in iduals performing well under one stressor also tended to perform well under every other stressor. An analysis of genetic correlations between traits revealed positive covariances, suggesting that selection to multiple stressors will reinforce rather than constrain the simultaneous evolution of traits related to holobiont health (e.g., weight gain and algal density). These findings support the potential for rapid coral adaptation under climate change and emphasize the importance of accounting for corals’ adaptive capacity when predicting the future of coral reefs.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 11-03-2019
DOI: 10.1101/572321
Abstract: Climate change threatens organisms in a variety of interactive ways that requires simultaneous adaptation of multiple traits. Predicting evolutionary responses requires an understanding of the potential for synergistic interactions among stressors and the genetic variance and covariance among fitness-related traits that may reinforce or constrain an adaptive response. Here we investigate the capacity of Acropora millepora , a reef-building coral, to adapt to multiple environmental stressors: rising sea surface temperature, ocean acidification, and increased prevalence of infectious diseases. We measured growth rates (weight gain), coral color (a proxy for Symbiodiniaceae density), and survival, in addition to nine physiological indicators of coral and algal health in 40 coral genets exposed to each of these three stressors singly and combined. In idual stressors resulted in predicted responses ( e.g ., corals developed lesions after bacterial challenge and bleached under thermal stress). However, corals did not suffer substantially more when all three stressors were combined. Nor were tradeoffs observed between tolerances to different stressors instead, in iduals performing well under one stressor also tended to perform well under every other stressor. An analysis of genetic correlations between traits revealed positive co-variances, suggesting that selection to multiple stressors will reinforce rather than constrain the simultaneous evolution of traits related to holobiont health ( e.g., weight gain and algal density). These findings support the potential for rapid coral adaptation under climate change and emphasize the importance of accounting for corals’ adaptive capacity when predicting the future of coral reefs.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-02-2020
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.14999
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-2017
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-017-02685-1
Abstract: Disease causes significant coral mortality worldwide however, factors responsible for intraspecific variation in disease resistance remain unclear. We exposed fragments of eight Acropora millepora colonies (genotypes) to putatively pathogenic bacteria ( Vibrio spp .). Genotypes varied from zero to % mortality, with bacterial challenge increasing average mortality rates 4–6 fold and shifting the microbiome in favor of stress-associated taxa. Constitutive immunity and subsequent immune and transcriptomic responses to the challenge were more prominent in high-mortality in iduals, whereas low-mortality corals remained largely unaffected and maintained expression signatures of a healthier condition ( i.e ., did not launch a large stress response). Our results suggest that lesions appeared due to changes in the coral pathobiome (multiple bacterial species associated with disease) and general health deterioration after the biotic disturbance, rather than the direct activity of any specific pathogen. If diseases in nature arise because of weaknesses in holobiont physiology, instead of the virulence of any single etiological agent, environmental stressors compromising coral condition might play a larger role in disease outbreaks than is currently thought. To facilitate the diagnosis of compromised in iduals, we developed and independently cross-validated a biomarker assay to predict mortality based on genes whose expression in asymptomatic in iduals coincides with mortality rates.
No related grants have been discovered for Rachel Wright.