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Stability of coral–endosymbiont associations during and after a thermal stress event in the southern Great Barrier Reef

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Abstract

Shifts in the community of symbiotic dinoflagellates to those that are better suited to the prevailing environmental condition may provide reef-building corals with a rapid mechanism by which to adapt to changes in the environment. In this study, the dominant Symbiodinium in 10 coral species in the southern Great Barrier Reef was monitored over a 1-year period in 2002 that coincided with a thermal stress event. Molecular genetic profiling of Symbiodinium communities using single strand conformational polymorphism of the large subunit rDNA and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of the internal transcribed spacer 2 region did not detect any changes in the communities during and after this thermal-stress event. Coral colonies of seven species bleached but recovered with their original symbionts. This study suggests that the shuffling or switching of symbionts in response to thermal stress may be restricted to certain coral species and is probably not a universal feature of the coral–symbiont relationship.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank T. Bui, K. Low, W. Fitt, G. Schmidt, and the staff at One Tree and Heron Island. This research was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award and International Society for Reef Studies and The Ocean Conservancy Graduate Fellowship for Coral Reef Research to M. Stat, funded by an Australian Research Council grant (A10009205) to O. Hoegh-Guldberg and D. Carter, and an Australian Biological Resources Study grant 204-53 grant to D. Carter, by the National Science Foundation grant (OCE-0137007), and by the GEF–World Bank Coral Reef Targeted Research Project (www.gefcoral.org).

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Author notes

  1. M. Stat

    Present address: Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii, PO Box 1346, Kaneohe, HI, 96744, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    M. Stat & D. A. Carter

  2. The Centre for Marine Studies, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    W. K. W. Loh & O. Hoegh-Guldberg

  3. Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    T. C. LaJeunesse

Authors
  1. M. Stat
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  2. W. K. W. Loh
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  3. T. C. LaJeunesse
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  4. O. Hoegh-Guldberg
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  5. D. A. Carter
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Correspondence to M. Stat.

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Communicated by Biology Editor Dr. Clay Cook

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Stat, M., Loh, W.K.W., LaJeunesse, T.C. et al. Stability of coral–endosymbiont associations during and after a thermal stress event in the southern Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs 28, 709–713 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-009-0509-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-009-0509-5

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