Host-symbiont coevolution, cryptic structure, and bleaching susceptibility, in a coral species complex (Scleractinia; Poritidae).

ABSTRACT: The 'species' is a key concept for conservation and evolutionary biology, yet the lines between population and species-level variation are often blurred, especially for corals. The 'Porites lobata species complex' consists of branching and mounding corals that form reefs across the Pacific. We used reduced representation meta-genomic sequencing to examine genetic relationships within this species complex and to identify candidate loci associated with colony morphology, cryptic genetic structure, and apparent bleaching susceptibility. We compared existing Porites data with bleached and unbleached colonies of the branching coral P. compressa collected in Kāne'ohe Bay Hawai'i during the 2015 coral bleaching event. Loci that mapped to coral, symbiont, and microbial references revealed genetic

SUBMITTER: Forsman ZH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7550562 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature