The molecular basis of differential morphology and bleaching thresholds in two morphs of the coral Pocillopora acuta
Smith, Hillary, Epstein, Hannah, and Torda, Gergely (2017) The molecular basis of differential morphology and bleaching thresholds in two morphs of the coral Pocillopora acuta. Scientific Reports, 7 (1). 10066.
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Abstract
Processes of cnidarian evolution, including hybridization and phenotypic plasticity, have complicated the clear diagnosis of species boundaries within the phylum. Pocillopora acuta, a species of scleractinian coral that was recently split from the widespread Pocillopora damicornis species complex, occurs in at least two distinct morphs on the Great Barrier Reef. Contrasting morphology combined with evidence of differential bleaching thresholds among sympatrically distributed colonies suggest that the taxonomy of this recently described species is not fully resolved and may represent its own species complex. To examine the basis of sympatric differentiation between the two morphs, we combined analyses of micro- and macro-skeletal morphology with genome wide sequencing of the coral host, as well as ITS2 genotyping of the associated Symbiodinium communities. We found consistent differences between morphs on both the macro- and micro-skeletal scale. In addition, we identified 18 candidate functional genes that relate to skeletal formation and morphology that may explain how the two morphs regulate growth to achieve their distinct growth forms. With inconclusive results in endosymbiotic algal community diversity between the two morphs, we propose that colony morphology may be linked to bleaching susceptibility. We conclude that cryptic speciation may be in the early stages within the species P. acuta.
| Item ID: | 54177 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 2045-2322 |
| Additional Information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Date Deposited: | 19 Jun 2018 06:45 |
| FoR Codes: | 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4101 Climate change impacts and adaptation > 410102 Ecological impacts of climate change and ecological adaptation @ 20% 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3107 Microbiology > 310799 Microbiology not elsewhere classified @ 40% 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3103 Ecology > 310305 Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) @ 40% |
| SEO Codes: | 97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970106 Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences @ 100% |
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