Sub-lethal coral stress: Detecting molecular responses of coral populations to environmental conditions over space and time

► Effects of spatial and temporal environmental changes on gene expression patterns in scleractinian coral on Florida reefs. ► Chemical stressor (or cocktail of chemical stressors) appears to be impacting coral populations at some of the study sites. ► Development of a biosensor to aid in the identification of sites to further investigate for the presence of bioactive chemicals. ► Alternative approach to traditional risk assessment by quantifying and characterizing gene expression of coral populations. ► Correlation observed between coral stress responsive genes and symbiont-specific (zooxanthellae) genes.