Predominance of clade D <Emphasis Type="Italic">Symbiodinium</Emphasis> in shallow-water reef-building corals off Kish and Larak Islands (Persian Gulf,Iran) |
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Authors: | Pargol Ghavam Mostafavi Seyed Mohammad Reza Fatemi Mohammad Hassan Shahhosseiny Ove Hoegh-Guldberg William Kok Weng Loh |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hesarak, PO Box 14155-5655, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran;(2) Department of Microbiology, Shahryar/Shahr-e Ghods Unit, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran;(3) Centre for Marine Studies, University of Queensland, St.Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia;(4) Marine Biology Australia, PO Box 6112, Towong, QLD, 4067, Australia |
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Abstract: | Scleractinian coral species harbour communities of photosynthetic taxa of the genus Symbiodinium. As many as eight genetic clades (A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H) of Symbiodinium have been discovered using molecular biology. These clades may differ from each other in their physiology, and thus influence
the ecological distribution and resilience of their host corals to environmental stresses. Corals of the Persian Gulf are
normally subject to extreme environmental conditions including high salinity and seasonal variation in temperature. This study
is the first to use molecular techniques to identify the Symbiodinium of the Iranian coral reefs to the level of phylogenetic clades. Samples of eight coral species were collected at two different
depths from the eastern part of Kish Island in the northern Persian Gulf, and Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Partial
28S nuclear ribosomal (nr) DNA of Symbiodinium (D1/D2 domains) were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR products were analyzed using single stranded conformational
polymorphism and phylogenetic analyses of the LSU DNA sequences from a subset of the samples. The results showed that Symbiodinium populations were generally uniform among and within the populations of eight coral species studied, and there are at least
two clades of Symbiodinium from Kish and Larak islands. Clade D was detected from eight of the coral species while clade C was found in two of species
only (one species hosted two clades simultaneously). The dominance of clade D might be explained by high temperatures or the
extreme temperature variation, typical of the Persian Gulf.
Publication of this article was held up owing to technical problems. The publisher apologizes sincerely for this lengthy delay. |
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