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Symbiodinium spp. associated with high-latitude scleractinian corals from Jeju Island, South Korea

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Abstract

Most studies on endosymbiotic dinoflagellate algae (genus Symbiodinium) associated with scleractinian corals focus on tropical and sub-tropical reefs. Their diversity in outlying, non-reef coral communities at high latitudes is still not fully documented. In this study, we analyzed the Symbiodinium diversity associated with five scleractinian species collected at eight sites around Jeju Island (South Korea, 33.4°N) between 5 and 15 m depth. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of amplified internal transcribed spacer region 2 distinguished five Symbiodinium types. We observed a high level of specificity between host genera and Symbiodinium spp. despite existing in an environment with large seasonal oscillations in temperature and light. Psammocora albopicta and Psammocora profundacella were associated with C1 and Montipora millepora with C17. Alveopora japonica was associated exclusively with an unusual F-type, the only known clade F representative functionally important to a scleractinian coral. Oulastrea crispata was associated with Symbiodinium boreum (type D15), occasionally co-occurring with type C3 (in 4 % of specimens). In addition to increasing the knowledge of Symbiodinium diversity in high-latitude coral communities, this study constitutes an important baseline upon which the effects of projected environmental change in the near future can be assessed. A better understanding of high-latitude coral communities is critical for understanding how a warming planet will affect the tempo and mode of shifts in the composition of temperate marine communities.

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Acknowledgments

Coral collection was supported by the Korean Coral Resources Bank (KCRB). Thanks are given to the members of the Coral Reef Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics (CREEG) laboratory, Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica (BRCAS). This study was supported by Academia Sinica Thematic program grants (2011–2013), the National Science Council of Taiwan (NSC, Grant 100-2923-B-001-005-MY2) to CAC and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF, Grant 2011-0030568) to JIS. VD was supported by a NSC postdoctoral fellowship, ML by the International Internship Program of the Taiwan International Graduate Program (TIGP-IIP) and SW by PE99202, Korea. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions to improve the quality of the manuscript. This is CREEG-BRCAS contribution no. 113.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

    S. De Palmas, V. Denis, L. Ribas-Deulofeu, M. Loubeyres & C. A. Chen

  2. Biodiversity Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

    S. De Palmas, L. Ribas-Deulofeu, M. Loubeyres & C. A. Chen

  3. Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan

    S. De Palmas & L. Ribas-Deulofeu

  4. Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, Geoje, Republic of South Korea

    S. Woo

  5. Faculty of Marine Environmental Chemistry and Biology, University of Science and Technology, Geoje, Republic of South Korea

    S. Woo

  6. Research Institute of EcoScience, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of South Korea

    S. J. Hwang

  7. College of Natural Sciences, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of South Korea

    J. I. Song

  8. Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    C. A. Chen

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  1. S. De Palmas
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  2. V. Denis
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  3. L. Ribas-Deulofeu
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  4. M. Loubeyres
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  8. C. A. Chen
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Correspondence to C. A. Chen.

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Communicated by Biology Editor Dr. Anastazia Banaszak

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De Palmas, S., Denis, V., Ribas-Deulofeu, L. et al. Symbiodinium spp. associated with high-latitude scleractinian corals from Jeju Island, South Korea. Coral Reefs 34, 919–925 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-015-1286-y

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