Biogeography and molecular diversity of coral symbionts in the genus Symbiodinium around the Arabian Peninsula.

ABSTRACT:

Aim

Coral reefs rely on the symbiosis between scleractinian corals and intracellular, photosynthetic dinoflagellates of the genus Symbiodinium making the assessment of symbiont diversity critical to our understanding of ecological resilience of these ecosystems. This study characterizes Symbiodinium diversity around the Arabian Peninsula, which contains some of the most thermally diverse and understudied reefs on Earth.

Location

Shallow water coral reefs throughout the Red Sea (RS), Sea of Oman (SO), and Persian/Arabian Gulf (PAG).

Methods

Next-generation sequencing of the ITS2 marker gene was used to assess Symbiodinium community composition and diversity comprising 892 samples from 46 hard and soft coral genera.

Results

Corals were associ

SUBMITTER: Ziegler M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5324606 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature