[Coral-List] genetic connectivity of Symbiodinium individuals within a single colony
Thomas Krueger
thomas.krueger at epfl.ch
Thu Mar 21 10:34:27 UTC 2019
Here is a curious question: If the symbiont community in a coral host,
as some publications suggest, consists of a single genet (i.e.
genetically identical individuals aka clones), how can bleaching ever
act as a positive selective force and reshape the surviving residual
population towards a more heat resistant one? It literally would require
uptake of genetically different individuals (of the same species) from
the water column to diversify the genetic pool. Has someone used
sequencing data to look at whether it is the residual population that
recolonizes a bleached coral or whether it receives new settlers from
the water column? If a single genet of Symbiodinium in colonies is
really a dominating feature and if it does not change through bleaching
events, then horizontal transmission might not really be such a big
thing and there is little exchange with environmental Symbiodinium
populations in the adult stage (exchange maybe, but not to the point
that it reshapes colonies to the point that we can detect an altered
genetic pool of the dominating species). This in turn would mean that
the coral's larval and juvenile stage is the crucial stage that shapes
the holobiont assemblage for the symbiont side. Any thoughts?
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