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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Main Authors: Stat, Michael, Loh, W., LaJeunesse, T., Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Carter, D.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Springer Verlag 2009
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/37390
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author Stat, Michael
Loh, W.
LaJeunesse, T.
Hoegh-Guldberg, O.
Carter, D.
author_facet Stat, Michael
Loh, W.
LaJeunesse, T.
Hoegh-Guldberg, O.
Carter, D.
author_sort Stat, Michael
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description 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. © Springer-Verlag 2009.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-373902017-09-13T13:38:14Z Stability of coral-endosymbiont associations during and after a thermal stress event in the southern Great Barrier Reef Stat, Michael Loh, W. LaJeunesse, T. Hoegh-Guldberg, O. Carter, D. 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. © Springer-Verlag 2009. 2009 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/37390 10.1007/s00338-009-0509-5 Springer Verlag restricted
spellingShingle Stat, Michael
Loh, W.
LaJeunesse, T.
Hoegh-Guldberg, O.
Carter, D.
Stability of coral-endosymbiont associations during and after a thermal stress event in the southern Great Barrier Reef
title Stability of coral-endosymbiont associations during and after a thermal stress event in the southern Great Barrier Reef
title_full Stability of coral-endosymbiont associations during and after a thermal stress event in the southern Great Barrier Reef
title_fullStr Stability of coral-endosymbiont associations during and after a thermal stress event in the southern Great Barrier Reef
title_full_unstemmed Stability of coral-endosymbiont associations during and after a thermal stress event in the southern Great Barrier Reef
title_short Stability of coral-endosymbiont associations during and after a thermal stress event in the southern Great Barrier Reef
title_sort stability of coral-endosymbiont associations during and after a thermal stress event in the southern great barrier reef
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/37390