Molecular biology of stress responses in corals. Coral reefs are declining at an alarming rate worldwide as a result of exposure to a variety of stressors of both natural and anthropogenic origins. These ecosystems are exhibiting a variety of symptoms of stress. Studies are now emerging which demonstrate that molecular analyses of gene expression can evaluate the relative impact of multiple stressors. In the developing field of ecotoxicogenomics, there are two main objectives: 1) to analyze the expression of several genes simultaneously in order to identify patterns of stress responses at the level of gene transcription and 2) to isolate and characterize the functionality of genes (both known and unknown) which are differentially expressed in response to stressors. The work conducted in my lab focuses on stress responses in cnidarians. Molecular techniques of gene expression are employed to investigate the organism's response to an environmental stressor. Factors such as the type of stressor, the period of exposure (both temporally and spatially), as well as previous physiological conditions can all influence the stress response. REU students working in my lab during the summer of 2006 will learn various molecular techniques including RNA extraction, reverse-transcription PCR, electrophoresis, and cloning. The goal of this research will be to isolate genes that are recognized stress responses on other organisms and include the corresponding nucleotide sequence on future versions of the coral cDNA array.