From Parent to Gamete: Vertical Transmission of Symbiodinium (Dinophyceae) ITS2 Sequence Assemblages in the Reef Building Coral Montipora capitata

Parental effects are ubiquitous in nature and in many organisms play a particularly critical role in the transfer of symbionts across generations; however, their influence and relative importance in the marine environment has rarely been considered. Coral reefs are biologically diverse and productive marine ecosystems, whose success is framed by symbiosis between reef-building corals and unicellular dinoflagellates in the genus Symbiodinium. Many corals produce aposymbiotic larvae that are infected by Symbiodinium from the environment (horizontal transmission), which allows for the acquisition of new endosymbionts (different from their parents) each generation. In the remaining species, Symbiodinium are transmitted directly from parent to offspring via eggs (vertical transmission), a mechanism that perpetuates the relationship between some or all of the Symbiodinium diversity found in the parent through multiple generations. Here we examine vertical transmission in the Hawaiian coral Montipora capitata by comparing the Symbiodinium ITS2 sequence assemblages in parent colonies and the eggs they produce. Parental effects on sequence assemblages in eggs are explored in the context of the coral genotype, colony morphology, and the environment of parent colonies. Our results indicate that ITS2 sequence assemblages in eggs are generally similar to their parents, and patterns in parental assemblages are different, and reflect environmental conditions, but not colony morphology or coral genotype. We conclude that eggs released by parent colonies during mass spawning events are seeded with different ITS2 sequence assemblages, which encompass phylogenetic variability that may have profound implications for the development, settlement and survival of coral offspring

Priorities for synthesis research in ecology and environmental science

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank the National Science Foundation grant #1940692 for financial support for this workshop, and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) and its staff for logistical support.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Priorities for synthesis research in ecology and environmental science

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank the National Science Foundation grant #1940692 for financial support for this workshop, and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) and its staff for logistical support.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Mortaility_Corallina_Spores

Data set includes mortality of spores Corallina vancouveriensis from four different sites in California and exposed to two different pCO2 levels

Data from: Depth specialization in mesophotic corals (Leptoseris spp.) and associated algal symbionts in Hawai‘i

Corals at the lower limits of mesophotic habitats are likely to have unique photosynthetic adaptations that allow them to persist and dominate in these extreme low light ecosystems. We examined the host–symbiont relationships from the dominant coral genus Leptoseris in mesophotic environments from Hawai'i collected by submersibles across a depth gradient of 65–125 m. Coral and Symbiodinium genotypes were compared with three distinct molecular markers including coral (COX1–1-rRNA intron) and Symbiodinium (COI) mitochondrial markers and nuclear ITS2. The phylogenetic reconstruction clearly resolved five Leptoseris species, including one species (Leptoseris hawaiiensis) exclusively found in deeper habitats (115–125 m). The Symbiodinium mitochondrial marker resolved three unambiguous haplotypes in clade C, which were found at significantly different frequencies between host species and depths, with one haplotype exclusively found at the lower mesophotic extremes (95–125 m). These patterns of host–symbiont depth specialization indicate that there are limits to connectivity between upper and lower mesophotic zones, suggesting that niche specialization plays a critical role in host–symbiont evolution at mesophotic extremes

Growth Corallina Spores

Data set includes growth of Corallina vancouveriensis from four different sites in California and exposed to two different pCO2 levels

Pigments Corallina Adults

Data set includes pigment content of Corallina vancouveriensis from four different sites in California and exposed to two different pCO2 levels

Relative Growth Rate Corallina Adults

Data set includes relative growth rate of Corallina vancouveriensis from four different sites in California and exposed to two different pCO2 levels

Physiology_Corallina Adults

Data set includes net photosynthesis, gross photosynthesis and respiration of Corallina vancouveriensis from four different sites in California and exposed to two different pCO2 levels

Appendix A

Detailed list of collection depths and dates, as well as sampling sites with latitude/longitude coordinates and the coral cover observed around each of the 74 Leptoseris spp. samples shown for each coral sample, including the 12 Leptoseris samples that were subjected to additional genotyping from the calyx and/or other coenosarc region. Symbiodinium spp. ITS2 sequence (specific ITS2 sequence type names are shown, followed by numbers in superscript indicating how many time each type was recovered). Finally, the Leptoseris spp. clades based on the COX-1-1 mtDNA and corresponding GenBank accession numbers are shown in the last two column