RNAseq data from apparently healthy and Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease-affected Montastraea cavernosa coral collected from St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands in 2020

These data include raw RNAseq reads from Montastraea cavernosa collected from two reefs in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. Samples were collected from two reefs showing signs of active stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) in February of 2020: Buck Island and Black Point. Black Point, a nearshore reef, first exhibited cases of SCTLD between December 2018 and January 2019, whereas Buck Island, situated near an offshore undeveloped island, recorded its first cases of SCTLD in October 2019. At both sites, one coral fragment was collected from each apparently health colony (Buck Island, n = 3; Black Point, n = 3), termed apparently healthy tissue on an apparently healthy colony (HH). Two fragments were collected from each diseased colony: one immediately adjacent to the SCTLD lesion line (Buck Island, n = 3: Black Point, n = 5), termed lesion tissue on a diseased colony (LD), and one as far away from the lesion line as possible (approximately 10 cm from the lesion line) (Buck Island, n = 3; Black Point, n = 5), termed apparently healthy tissue on a diseased colony (HD). Sample and data analysis was performed in January 2024. Sequences were used in a feature selection algorithm to identify the genes in M. cavernosa and its dominant algal endosymbiont, Cladocopium goreaui, that best discriminate between the three SCTLD health states. By characterizing the gene expression profiles associated with various tissue health states in M. cavernosa and C. goreaui, this data supports evidence that SCTLD causes dysbiosis between the coral host and its Symbiodiniaceae and describes the metabolic and immune shifts that occur as the holobiont transitions from an apparently healthy state to a diseased state.本数据集包含采自美属维尔京群岛圣托马斯岛两处珊瑚礁的盾形陀螺珊瑚（Montastraea cavernosa）原始RNAseq读段。2020年2月，研究人员于两处表现出活跃石珊瑚组织损失病（Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease, SCTLD）症状的珊瑚礁开展样本采集：巴克岛礁与黑角礁。黑角礁为近岸珊瑚礁，其首例SCTLD病例发现于2018年12月至2019年1月；而位于离岸未开发岛屿附近的巴克岛礁，其首例SCTLD病例记录于2019年10月。两处采样点均从外观健康的珊瑚群落各采集1个珊瑚片段（巴克岛礁n=3；黑角礁n=3），该类样本被定义为外观健康群落上的外观健康组织（apparently healthy tissue on an apparently healthy colony, HH）；从每一处发病珊瑚群落采集2个珊瑚片段：一个紧邻SCTLD病灶线（巴克岛礁n=3；黑角礁n=5），被定义为发病群落上的病灶组织（lesion tissue on a diseased colony, LD），另一个距病灶线尽可能远（约10 cm）（巴克岛礁n=3；黑角礁n=5），被定义为发病群落上的外观健康组织（apparently healthy tissue on a diseased colony, HD）。样本与数据分析工作于2024年1月完成。研究人员利用特征选择算法对测序序列进行分析，以确定盾形陀螺珊瑚及其优势藻类内共生体克拉多孔藻（Cladocopium goreaui）中可最优区分三种SCTLD健康状态的基因。通过解析盾形陀螺珊瑚与克拉多孔藻不同组织健康状态下的基因表达谱，本数据集可为“SCTLD会导致珊瑚宿主与其共生藻科（Symbiodiniaceae）群落失衡”这一结论提供实证支持，并刻画了全共生体从外观健康状态向发病状态转变过程中发生的代谢与免疫动态变化。