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Temporal and spatial infection dynamics indicate recognition events in the early hours of a dinoflagellate/coral symbiosis

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Abstract

The obligate symbiotic relationship between dinoflagellates, Symbiodinium spp. and reef building corals is re-established each host generation. The solitary coral Fungia scutaria Lamarck 1801 harbors a single algal strain, Symbiodinium ITS2 type C1f (homologous strain) during adulthood. Previous studies have shown that distinct algal ITS2 types in clade C correlate with F. scutaria—Symbiodinium specificity during the onset of symbiosis in the larval stage. The present study examined the early specificity events in the onset of symbiosis between F. scutaria larvae and Symbiodinium spp., by looking at the temporal and spatial infection dynamics of larvae challenged with different symbiont types. The results show that specificity at the onset of symbiosis was mediated by recognition events during the initial symbiont—host physical contact before phagocytosis, and by subsequent cellular events after the symbionts were incorporated into host cells. Moreover, homologous and heterologous Symbiodinium sp. strains did not exhibit the same pattern of localization within larvae. When larvae were infected with homologous symbionts (C1f), ~70% of the total acquired algae were found in the equatorial area of the larvae, between the oral and aboral ends, 21 h after inoculation. In contrast, no spatial difference in algal localization was observed in larvae infected with heterologous symbionts. This result provides evidence of functional differences among gastrodermal cells, during development of the larvae. The cells in the larval equator function as nutritive phagocytes, and also appear to function as a region of enhanced symbiont acquisition in F. scutaria.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Mary Hagedorn, Victoria Ramsey, and Rodolf Pan for their help in the field and for the exhausting work of keeping the coral larvae happy. We would also like to thank the Weis lab members Simon Dunn, Melissa deBoer, Santiago Perez, Wendy Phillips, and Laura Hauck for meaningful discussions and comments on early versions of this manuscript. This research was funded by a National Science Foundation grant (IBN: 0342585) to V. M. W. and by a Hawaii State Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network grant (HS-BRIN; NIH/NCRR grant RR-16467) to D. A. K. This publication was also made possible in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (1S10RR107903-01). The authors wish to acknowledge the Confocal Microscopy Facility of the Center for Genomic Research and Biocomputing and the Environmental and Health Sciences Center at Oregon State University. This is Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology contributuion # 1211.

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  1. Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty

    Present address: Centre for Marine Studies, University of Queensland, 4072, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty, Elisha M. Wood-Charlson & Virginia M. Weis

  2. Department of Natural Sciences, Windward Community College, Kane’ohe, HI, 96744, USA

    Lea L. Hollingsworth & Dave A. Krupp

Authors
  1. Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty
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  2. Elisha M. Wood-Charlson
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  3. Lea L. Hollingsworth
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  4. Dave A. Krupp
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  5. Virginia M. Weis
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Correspondence to Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty.

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Communicated by J.P. Grassle, New Brunswick

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Rodriguez-Lanetty, M., Wood-Charlson, E., Hollingsworth, L.L. et al. Temporal and spatial infection dynamics indicate recognition events in the early hours of a dinoflagellate/coral symbiosis. Mar Biol 149, 713–719 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0272-x

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