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Telomere length of the colonial coral Galaxea fascicularis at different developmental stages

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Abstract

The ability to estimate coral age using soft tissue would be useful for population biology or aging studies on corals. In this study, we investigated whether telomere length can be used to estimate coral age. We applied single telomere length analysis to a colonial coral, Galaxea fascicularis, and estimated telomere lengths of specific coral chromosomes at different developmental stages. If the telomere shortened at each cell division, the telomere length of the coral would be longest in sperm and shortest in adult colonies. However, the mean telomere length of sperm, planula larvae, and polyps was approximately 4 kb, with no significant differences among the developmental stages. The telomerase restriction fragment (TRF) analysis also showed no significant difference in the mean TRF length among the developmental stages. Our results suggested that telomere length is maintained during developmental stages and that estimating the age of colonial coral based on telomere length may not be possible. However, our findings can be used to examine avoidance of aging and rejuvenation during regeneration and asexual reproduction in colonial corals.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research No. 20570093 and 23570080 from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. We would like to thank anonymous reviewers for constructive comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Biology and Marine Science, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-0213, Japan

    H. Tsuta & M. Hidaka

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  1. H. Tsuta
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  2. M. Hidaka
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Correspondence to M. Hidaka.

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Communicated by Biology Eiditor Dr. Ruth Gates

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Tsuta, H., Hidaka, M. Telomere length of the colonial coral Galaxea fascicularis at different developmental stages. Coral Reefs 32, 495–502 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-012-0997-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-012-0997-6

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