Document of bibliographic reference 359320

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

Colony self-shading facilitates Symbiodiniaceae cohabitation in a South Pacific coral community

Abstract

The ecological success of tropical corals is regulated by symbiotic dinoflagellate algae (Symbiodiniaceae). Corals can associate with multiple Symbiodiniaceae species simultaneously, yet the conditions that permit Symbiodiniaceae cohabitation are not understood. We examined how corals self-shade their own tissues causing within-colony light gradients that drive Symbiodiniaceae photoacclimatory processes and positional genetic disparity. Paired light ‘exposed’ and ‘shaded’ samples from 20 coral species were collected from a shallow coral reef (Rarotonga, Cook Islands). Through active chlorophyll fluorometry, rapid light curves revealed that exposed Symbiodiniaceae exhibited 50% higher values in minimum saturating irradiances and demonstrated a shift towards preferential nonphotochemical quenching [1 – Q], consistent with higher overall light exposure. High-throughput or targeted DNA sequencing of ITS2 and psbA^ncr markers demonstrated that corals harboured distinct and/or differentially abundant Symbiodiniaceae ITS2 sequences (typically rare in relative abundance) or multiple ITS2 intragenomic variant profiles across shaded vs exposed regions. In Hydnophora cf. microconos, within-colony symbiont genetic disparity was positively correlated with the magnitude of difference in [1 – Q] utilisation. Together, these results suggest that within-colony light gradients produce distinct optical niches that enable symbiont cohabitation via photoadaptation, a phenomenon that is expected to increase the adaptive capacity of corals under future climates.

WebOfScience code

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000838537800001

Bibliographic citation

Lewis, R.E.; Davy, S.K.; Gardner, S.G.; Rongo, T.; Suggett, D.J.; Nitschke, M.R. (2022). Colony self-shading facilitates Symbiodiniaceae cohabitation in a South Pacific coral community. Coral Reefs 41(5): 1433-1447. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00338-022-02292-1

Is peer reviewed

true

Access rights

open access

Is accessible for free

true