Stylophora pistillata is a widely used coral "lab-rat" species with highly variable morphology and a broad biogeographic range (Red Sea to western central Pacific). Here we show, by analysing Cytochorme Oxidase I sequences, from 241 samples across this range, that this taxon in fact comprises four deeply divergent clades corresponding to the Pacific-Western Australia, Chagos-Madagascar-South Africa, Gulf of Aden-Zanzibar-Madagascar, and Red Sea-Persian/Arabian Gulf-Kenya. On the basis of the fossil record of Stylophora, these four clades diverged from one another 51.5-29.6 Mya, i.e., long before the closure of the Tethyan connection between the tropical Indo-West Pacific and Atlantic in the early Miocene (16-24 Mya) and should be recognised as four distinct species. These findings have implications for comparative ecological and/or physiological studies carried out using Stylophora pistillata as a model species, and highlight the fact that phenotypic plasticity, thought to be common in scleractinian corals, can mask significant genetic variation.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3605610 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep01520 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Inter- and intraspecific responses of coral colonies to thermal anomalies on Palmyra Atoll, central Pacific.
PLoS One
November 2024
Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America.
Long-term monitoring of individual coral colonies is important for understanding variability between and within species over time in the context of thermal stress. Here, we analyze an 11-year time series of permanent benthic photoquadrats taken on Palmyra Atoll, central Pacific, from 2009 to 2019 to track the growth (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEcosystem transplant from a healthy reef boosts coral health at a degraded reef.
Nat Commun
November 2024
Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
Organismal communities associated with coral reefs, particularly invertebrates and microbes, play crucial roles in ecosystem maintenance and coral health. Here, we characterized the organismal composition of a healthy, non-urbanized reef (Site A) and a degraded, urbanized reef (Site B) in the Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba, Red Sea to assess its impact on coral health and physiology. Biomimetically designed terracotta tiles were conditioned for 6 months at both sites, then reciprocally transplanted, and scleractinian coral species, Acropora eurystoma and Stylophora pistillata, were attached for an additional 6 months.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDesert dust improves the photophysiology of heat-stressed corals beyond iron.
Sci Rep
November 2024
Coral Ecophysiology team, Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Principality of Monaco, 8 Quai Antoine 1 er, Monaco, 98000, Principality of Monaco.
Desert dust is an important source of essential metals for marine primary productivity, especially in oligotrophic systems surrounded by deserts, such as the Red Sea. However, there are very few studies on the effects of dust on reef-building corals and none on the response of corals to heat stress. We therefore supplied dust to two coral species (Stylophora pistillata and Turbinaria reniformis) kept under control conditions (26 °C) or heat stress (32 °C).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnveiling the importance of heterotrophy for coral symbiosis under heat stress.
mBio
October 2024
Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Coral Ecophysiology Team, Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Article Synopsis
- Global warming threatens reef-building corals by causing them to lose their photosynthetic symbionts, making it harder for them to feed through autotrophy.
- The study used various isotopic markers to explore how corals acquire and allocate nutrients under controlled conditions and heat stress.
- Findings indicate that while corals’ ability to assimilate heterotrophic food decreases under heat stress, they still rely on heterotrophy for amino acid synthesis, showcasing their adaptability to changing environmental conditions.
Quantification of cytosolic 'free' calcium in isolated coral cells with confocal microscopy.
J Exp Biol
October 2024
Marine Biology Department, Centre Scientifique de Monaco, 8 Quai Antoine 1er, 98000, Monaco.
Despite its prominent role as an intracellular messenger in all organisms, cytosolic free calcium ([Ca2+]i) has never been quantified in corals or cnidarians in general. Ratiometric calcium dyes and cell imaging have been key methods in successful research on [Ca2+]i in model systems, and could be applied to corals. Here, we developed a procedure to quantify [Ca2+]i in isolated cells from the model coral species Stylophora pistillata using Indo-1 and confocal microscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!