Limited influence of seasonality on coral microbiomes and endosymbionts in an equatorial reef

Quek, Z.B. Randolph; Tanzil, Jani; Jain, Sudhanshi S.; Yong, Wei Long Ow; Yu, Denise Ching Yi; Soh, Zen; Ow, Yan Xiang; Tun, Karenne; Huang, Danwei; Wainwright, Benjamin J.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.109878

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 111 publications

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“…Similar observations of Gerakladium and Symbiodinium at low background levels have been reported in corals of reef systems across the Coral Triangle such as Malaysia and Singapore [ 21 , 64 ]. The dominance patterns of Cladocopium and Durusdinium were also consistent with previous research on the same coral species, particularly the dominance of Durusdinium in Diploastrea heliopora and Cladocopium in Porites lutea [ 21 , 58 , 59 , 65 , 66 ] , indicating a pronounced preference for specific Symbiodiniaceae and highlighting the role of the coral host in structuring its endosymbiont community.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…The 413 coral fragments from four coral species sampled across six reef sites in PNG identified four symbiont genera, Cladocopium , Durusdinium , Gerakladium , and Symbiodinium . Consistent with other Indo-Pacific reef systems [ 21 , 58 , 59 , 63 ], Cladocopium and Durusdinium endosymbionts are dominant in PNG corals. Meanwhile, Symbiodinium and Gerakladium defining intragenomic variants (DIVs) were present at low background levels across several coral samples, although only Gerakladium type profiles were identified by SymPortal.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…This work identified a total of 1684 unique Symbiodiniaceae DIVs and 77 type profiles across 413 samples collected from four species of coral, far surpassing the numbers reported in prior studies within the Asia–Pacific region. For example, 263 samples across three coral species in Singapore identified only 15 type profiles [ 59 ], while 60 samples across 30 different coral species from Hong Kong only identified 13 type profiles [ 67 ]. While this study had a broader sampling range, a recurring observation in coral-Symbiodiniaceae communities across the region is the prevalence of certain type profiles across coral hosts and/or sampling sites [ 68 – 70 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Highly Diverse Symbiodiniaceae Types Hosted by Corals in a Global Hotspot of Marine Biodiversity

Ng,

Soon,

Afiq-Rosli

et al. 2024

Microb Ecol

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Symbiotic dinoflagellates in the genus Symbiodiniaceae play vital roles in promoting resilience and increasing stress tolerance in their coral hosts. While much of the world’s coral succumb to the stresses associated with increasingly severe and frequent thermal bleaching events, live coral cover in Papua New Guinea (PNG) remains some of the highest reported globally despite the historically warm waters surrounding the country. Yet, in spite of the high coral cover in PNG and the acknowledged roles Symbiodiniaceae play within their hosts, these communities have not been characterized in this global biodiversity hotspot. Using high-throughput sequencing of the ITS2 rDNA gene, we profiled the endosymbionts of four coral species, Diploastrea heliopora, Pachyseris speciosa, Pocillopora acuta, and Porites lutea, across six sites in PNG. Our findings reveal patterns of Cladocopium and Durusdinium dominance similar to other reefs in the Coral Triangle, albeit with much greater intra- and intergenomic variation. Host- and site-specific variations in Symbiodiniaceae type profiles were observed across collection sites, appearing to be driven by environmental conditions. Notably, the extensive intra- and intergenomic variation, coupled with many previously unreported sequences, highlight PNG as a potential hotspot of symbiont diversity. This work represents the first characterization of the coral-symbiont community structure in the PNG marine biodiversity hotspot, serving as a baseline for future studies.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Highly Diverse Symbiodiniaceae Types Hosted by Corals in a Global Hotspot of Marine Biodiversity

Ng,

Soon,

Afiq-Rosli

et al. 2024

Microb Ecol

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“…For Symbiodiniaceae, studies have reported both stable switches to a new symbiont association (Claar, Starko, et al, 2020;Rouzé et al, 2019) and a return to the native state after the stress event (LaJeunesse et al, 2009;Thornhill et al, 2006). The degree of variability of the coral microbiome is also not well established, but the effect of time is often dwarfed by environmental and species-specific pressures (Dunphy et al, 2019;Epstein et al, 2019;Quek et al, 2023). It has been proposed that coral holobiont dynamics are ungeneralizable and likely geographically and genotypically unique (Dunphy et al, 2019;Hoegh-Guldberg et al, 2007;Stat et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cryptic genetic structure of the coral host is the primary driver of holobiont assembly in massivePorites

Scott,

Schott,

Matz

2024

Preprint

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The fate of coral reefs in response to climate change depends on their ability to adapt to new environments. The coral animal is buffered from environmental stress by its algal endosymbionts and microbial partners (together, the “holobiont”). However, the flexibility of holobiont community assembly in time and space is not well understood, making it difficult to estimate its contribution to coral adaptation. To clarify these processes at a centuries-long time scale, we compared the holobiont of massive Porites adults (>2m) to their juvenile (<30cm) counterparts across environments. We genotyped coral hosts from Orpheus Island, Australia and characterized their associated Symbiodiniaceae and bacterial communities. We recovered ten distinct genetic clusters of the coral host, reflecting the known difficulty in identifying species of massivePoritescompounded by cryptic genetic structure. Within the largest of these clusters, we additionally found significant genetic separation between adult and juvenile corals. Host genetic structure was the primary driver of both Symbiodiniaceae (84% of variance explained) and microbial (60% of variance explained) community composition, indicating strong holobiont specificity in cryptic lineages. The relative role of environment and age was over two-fold higher for the microbial community compared to the Symbiodiniaceae community. Our results indicate local environmental factors and time influence the microbial community at a meaningful scale, but genetics trumps all for the vertically-transmitted Symbiodiniaceae community.

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Coral mariculture using abandoned abalone farming ponds in northeastern Taiwan

Shikina,

Cheng,

Lin

et al. 2024

Aquaculture

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Limited influence of seasonality on coral microbiomes and endosymbionts in an equatorial reef

Cited by 7 publications

References 111 publications

Highly Diverse Symbiodiniaceae Types Hosted by Corals in a Global Hotspot of Marine Biodiversity

Highly Diverse Symbiodiniaceae Types Hosted by Corals in a Global Hotspot of Marine Biodiversity

Cryptic genetic structure of the coral host is the primary driver of holobiont assembly in massivePorites

Coral mariculture using abandoned abalone farming ponds in northeastern Taiwan

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