Symbiont Community Changes Confer Fitness Benefits for Larvae in a Vertically Transmitting Coral.

ABSTRACT: Coral reefs worldwide are threatened by increasing ocean temperatures because of the sensitivity of the coral-algal symbiosis to thermal stress. Reef-building corals form symbiotic relationships with dinoflagellates (family Symbiodiniaceae), including those species which acquire their initial symbiont complement predominately from their parents. Changes in the composition of symbiont communities, through the mechanisms of symbiont shuffling or switching, can modulate the host's thermal limits. However, the role of shuffling in coral acclimatization to heat is understudied in coral offspring and to date has largely focused on the adults. To quantify potential fitness benefits and consequences of changes in symbiont communities under a simulated heatwave in coral early life-history stages, w

SUBMITTER: Olivares-Cordero D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11725385 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature