Journal article
Spatial and temporal genetic structure of Symbiodinium populations within a common reef-building coral on the Great Barrier Reef
EJ Howells, BL Willis, LK Bay, MJH Van Oppen
Molecular Ecology | Published : 2013
DOI: 10.1111/mec.12342
Abstract
The dinoflagellate photosymbiont Symbiodinium plays a fundamental role in defining the physiological tolerances of coral holobionts, but little is known about the dynamics of these endosymbiotic populations on coral reefs. Sparse data indicate that Symbiodinium populations show limited spatial connectivity; however, no studies have investigated temporal dynamics for in hospite Symbiodinium populations following significant mortality and recruitment events in coral populations. We investigated the combined influences of spatial isolation and disturbance on the population dynamics of the generalist Symbiodinium type C2 (ITS1 rDNA) hosted by the scleractinian coral Acropora millepora in the cen..
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Funding Acknowledgements
We thank Daniel Thornhill, Nathan Kirk, Scott Santos and Victor Beltran for providing DNA from monoclonal Symbiodinium cultures for microsatellite testing, and Petra Souter and James Woodford for assisting with sample collection, David Abrego for providing size-based estimates of age for colonies of Acropora millepora; Alison Paley and Yui Sato for providing information on recent cyclone impacts at the Palm Islands; and Craig Steinberg for sharing his knowledge of hydrodynamic features in the Palm Island group. We also thank the anonymous reviewers of earlier versions of this manuscript for their beneficial feedback. This work was funded by a Marine and Tropical Sciences Facility grant to BW, MvO and LB, and an AIMS@JCU grant to EH.