Occurrence of the putatively heat-tolerant Symbiodinium phylotype D in high-latitudinal outlying coral communities

Biogeographic investigations have suggested that coral-symbiont associations can adapt to higher temperatures by hosting a heat-tolerant Symbiodinium, phylotype D. It is hypothesized that phylotype D is absent in high latitudes due to its heat-tolerant characteristics. In this study, this hypothesis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Coral reefs 2007-03, Vol.26 (1), p.35-44
Main Authors: LIEN, Yi-T, NAKANO, Y, PLATHONG, S, FUKAMI, H, WANG, Jih-T, CHEN, C. A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Cnidaria. Ctenaria
Coral reefs
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
High temperature
Invertebrates
Marine
Microbiology
Oulastrea crispata
Scleractinia
Sea water ecosystems
Symbiodinium
Synecology
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Summary:Biogeographic investigations have suggested that coral-symbiont associations can adapt to higher temperatures by hosting a heat-tolerant Symbiodinium, phylotype D. It is hypothesized that phylotype D is absent in high latitudes due to its heat-tolerant characteristics. In this study, this hypothesis was tested by examining the symbiont diversity in a scleractinian coral, Oulastrea crispata, throughout its entire latitudinal distribution range in the West Pacific. Molecular phylotyping of the 5'-end of the nuclear large subunit of ribosomal DNA (lsu rDNA) indicated that phylotype D was the dominant Symbiodinium in O. crispata from the tropical reefs to the marginal non-reefal coral communities. Several colonies of tropical populations were associated with phylotype C, either alone or simultaneously with phylotype D. Analysis of the polymerase chain reaction products using single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) detected relatively low densities of phylotype C in most of the O. crispata colonies surveyed. These results provide evidence for the occurrence of phylotype D in cold-water outlying coral communities. The dominant occurrence of phylotype C in some O. crispata colonies on tropical reefs and the relatively low densities of phylotype C identified by SSCP in subtropical and temperate populations show that the dominant symbiont type can vary in this coral species and that multiple symbionts can co-occur in the same host.
ISSN:0722-4028
1432-0975
DOI:10.1007/s00338-006-0185-7