Heat-Evolved Microalgae (Symbiodiniaceae) Are Stable Symbionts and Influence Thermal Tolerance of the Sea Anemone Exaiptasia diaphana.

ABSTRACT: Symbiotic cnidarians, such as sea anemones and corals, rely on their mutualistic microalgal partners (Symbiodiniaceae) for survival. Marine heatwaves can disrupt this partnership, and it has been proposed that introducing experimentally evolved, heat-tolerant algal symbionts could enhance host thermotolerance. To test this hypothesis, the sea anemone Exaiptasia diaphana (a coral model) was inoculated with either the heterologous wild type or heat-evolved algal symbiont, Cladocopium proliferum, and homologous wild-type Breviolum minutum. The novel symbioses persisted for 1.5 years and determined holobiont thermotolerance during a simulated summer heatwave. Anemones hosting SS8, one of the six heat-evolved strains tested, exhibited the highest thermotolerance. Notably, anemones hosting the w

SUBMITTER: Chan WY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11751664 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature