Stability of coral-endosymbiont associations during and after a thermal stress event in the southern Great Barrier Reef

Shifts in the community of symbiotic dinoflagellates to those that are better suited to the prevailing environmental condition may provide reef-building corals with a rapid mechanism by which to adapt to changes in the environment. In this study, the dominant Symbiodinium in 10 coral species in the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Coral reefs 2009-09, Vol.28 (3), p.709-713
Main Authors: Stat, M, Loh, W. K. W, LaJeunesse, T. C, Hoegh-Guldberg, O, Carter, D. A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acropora millepora
Acropora palifera
Algae
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Aquatic ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Climate change
Cnidaria. Ctenaria
Coral reefs
Environmental changes
Environmental conditions
Environmental impact
Favites abdita
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Goniastrea favulus
Invertebrates
Life Sciences
Lobophyllia corymbosa
Marine
Montipora digitata
Oceanography
Pocillopora damicornis
Porites cylindrica
Sea water ecosystems
Seriatopora hystrix
Stylophora pistillata
Symbiodinium
Symbiosis
Synecology
Thermal stress
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Summary:Shifts in the community of symbiotic dinoflagellates to those that are better suited to the prevailing environmental condition may provide reef-building corals with a rapid mechanism by which to adapt to changes in the environment. In this study, the dominant Symbiodinium in 10 coral species in the southern Great Barrier Reef was monitored over a 1-year period in 2002 that coincided with a thermal stress event. Molecular genetic profiling of Symbiodinium communities using single strand conformational polymorphism of the large subunit rDNA and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of the internal transcribed spacer 2 region did not detect any changes in the communities during and after this thermal-stress event. Coral colonies of seven species bleached but recovered with their original symbionts. This study suggests that the shuffling or switching of symbionts in response to thermal stress may be restricted to certain coral species and is probably not a universal feature of the coral-symbiont relationship.
ISSN:0722-4028
1432-0975
DOI:10.1007/s00338-009-0509-5