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Symbiodinium sp. associations in the gorgonian Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae in the Bahamas: high levels of genetic variability and population structure in symbiotic dinoflagellates

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Abstract

Little is known concerning the fine-scale diversity, population structure, and biogeography for Symbiodinium spp. populations inhabiting particular invertebrate species, including the gorgonian corals, which are prevalent members of reef communities in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and the western Atlantic. This study examined the Symbiodinium sp. clade B symbionts hosted by the Caribbean gorgonian Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae (Bayer). A total of 575 colonies of P. elisabethae were sampled in 1995 and 1998–2000 from 12 populations lying along an ~450 km transect in the Bahamas and their Symbiodinium sp. clade B symbionts genotyped at two polymorphic dinucleotide microsatellite loci. Twenty-three unique, two-locus genotypes were identified in association with these P. elisabethae colonies. Most colonies hosted only a single Symbiodinium sp. clade B genotype; however, in some instances (n=25), two genotypes were harbored simultaneously. For 10 of the 12 populations, 66–100% of the P. elisabethae colonies hosted the same symbiont genotype. Added to this, in 9 of the 12 populations, a Symbiodinium sp. clade B genotype was either unique to a population or found infrequently in other populations. This distribution of Symbiodinium sp. clade B genotypes resulted in statistically significant (P<0.05 or <0.001) differentiation in 62 of 66 pairwise comparisons of P. elisabethae populations. Tests of linkage disequilibrium suggested that a combination of clonal propagation of the haploid phase and recombination is responsible for maintaining these distinct Symbiodinium sp. clade B populations.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Bahamas Department of Fisheries for permission to collect and export samples from the Bahamas. The technical and logistical support of the staff and scientists of the Don Gerace Research Center is also greatly appreciated. We would also like to thank the crew of the R.V. "Sea Ray" for logistical support during Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae collections. Sherwood SCUBA is gratefully acknowledged for donating SCUBA equipment used in this study. We thank Dr. D. Posada (Variagenics, Inc.) for advice regarding statistical analyses. This research was supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) Minority Graduate Fellowship (S.R.S.), IIE/Conacyt/Fulbright-Garcia Robles Fellowship (C.G.R.), NSF grants OCE-95-30057 and OCE-99-07319 (M.A.C.) and grants from the New York State Sea Grant Program (no. R/XG-9) and the National Undersea Research Center at the Caribbean Marine Research Center (no. CMRC-99-3301 and 99-NRHL-01-01C) (M.A.C. and H.R.L.). P. elisabethae samples were collected under the legal authorization of the Bahamian government.

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  1. S. R. Santos

    Present address: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA

  2. C. Gutiérrez-Rodríguez

    Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Science, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260-1300, USA

    S. R. Santos, C. Gutiérrez-Rodríguez, H. R. Lasker & M. A. Coffroth

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Communicated by J.P. Grassle, New Brunswick

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Santos, S.R., Gutiérrez-Rodríguez, C., Lasker, H.R. et al. Symbiodinium sp. associations in the gorgonian Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae in the Bahamas: high levels of genetic variability and population structure in symbiotic dinoflagellates. Marine Biology 143, 111–120 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-003-1065-0

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