Dataset: Results from qPCR assays to quantify the abundance and photochemical performance of symbionts relative to coral cells in three coral species collected from colonies in southeast Florida in April and October 2019 before, during, and after heat stress tests

Coral cores of 2.5-centimeter (cm) diameter were collected from tagged colonies of three coral species in either April 2019 or October 2019 from Emerald Reef in Southeast Florida, USA. Cores were then maintained in 300-liter (L) indoor flow-through aquaria (in the Marine Technology and Life Science Seawater complex at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science) and subjected to experimental heat stress. Before, during, and following the heat stress, 2-millimeter (mm) tissue samples were collected from cores and genomic DNA was subsequently extracted from these samples as per Cunning & Baker (2016). Quantitative PCR was performed using Taqman Environmental Master Mix and symbiont genus-specific and coral species-specific primers and probes targeting the actin gene (Cunning & Baker, 2013; Cunning et al., 2015). In addition to collecting tissue samples, the photochemical efficiency of symbionts within coral cores was also assayed before, during, and after heat stress using an imaging-PAM fluorometer.

Full methodology described in Buzzoni, et al. (2023) (DOI: 10.1007/s00338-023-02428-x)