Dinoflagellate diversity among nudibranchs and sponges from French Polynesia: insights into associations and transfer.
Symbioses with the dinoflagellate Symbiodinium are widespread among marine invertebrates and protists, especially in nutritionally demanding habitats, such as tropical coral reefs, where they play a major role in ecosystem survival. Moreover, apart from corals and sea anemones, many of the Symbiodinium species and clades involved in these partnerships remain to be characterized. This study provides new insights into nudibranch and sponge associations with Symbiodinium by sequencing regions of the Symbiodinium 28S rDNA and the host mitochondrial COI oxidase. Specimens were sampled between 2011 and 2013 from locations around the islands of Moorea and Tahiti, French Polynesia. Our results revealed that some of the sponges and nudibranchs harbored typical Symbiodinium from clade B or C while others harbored new, undescribed Symbiodinium-like dinoflagellates. A detailed analysis of the different life stages of the nudibranch Phestilla lugubris and of its specific coral prey, Porites rus, suggests a prey-predator horizontal transfer of the symbiont and its vertical inheritance from the parent to the eggs.
LabEx Corail, CRIOBE USR 3278 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, BP 1013, 98729 Papetoai Moorea, French Polynesia. Electronic address: patricia.wecker@criobe.pf.
Patricia
P
Wecker
LabEx Corail, CRIOBE USR 3278 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, BP 1013, 98729 Papetoai Moorea, French Polynesia; Master BioSciences, Département de biologie, ENS Lyon, 46, allée d'Italie, 69007 Lyon, France.
Alice
A
Fournier
LabEx Corail, CRIOBE USR 3278 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, BP 1013, 98729 Papetoai Moorea, French Polynesia.
Pauline
P
Bosserelle
LabEx Corail, UMR241, BP 529, 98713 Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia.
Cécile
C
Debitus
LabEx Corail, CRIOBE USR 3278 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, BP 1013, 98729 Papetoai Moorea, French Polynesia; Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, 55, avenue de Paris, 78035 Versailles Cedex, France.
Gaël
G
Lecellier
LabEx Corail, CRIOBE USR 3278 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, BP 1013, 98729 Papetoai Moorea, French Polynesia.
Véronique
V
Berteaux-Lecellier
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics*; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D004141:Dinoflagellida / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D017753:Ecosystem; D049851:Gastropoda / Q000502:physiology*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011114:Polynesia; D011161:Porifera / Q000502:physiology*; D016053:RNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity; D013559:Symbiosis
D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D016053:RNA, Protozoan; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S
28SADNr; 28SrDNA; Dinoflagellates; Dinoflagellés; Marine sponge; Nudibranch; Nudibranches; Porites rus; Éponge marine