Linking host morphology and symbiont performance in octocorals
Rossi, Sergio (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Schubert, Nadine (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro de Ciências Físicas e Matemáticas)
Brown, Darren (The Pennsylvania State University. Department of Biology)
Soares, Marcelo de Oliveira (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Grosso, Victoria (Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología)
Rangel-Huerta, Emma (Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología)
Maldonado, Ernesto (Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología)

Fecha:	2018
Resumen:	Octocorals represent an important group in reef communities throughout the tropical seas and, like scleractinian corals, they can be found in symbiosis with the dinoflagellate Symbiodinium. However, while there is extensive research on this symbiosis and its benefits in scleractinians, research on octocorals has focused so far mainly on the host without addressing their symbiosis. Here, we characterized and compared the photophysiological features of nine Caribbean octocoral species with different colony morphologies (sea fan, plumes, whips and rods) and related key morphological features with their respective symbiont photobiology. Colony features (branch shape and thickness), as well as micromorphological features (polyp size, density), were found to be significantly correlated with symbiont performance. Sea fans and plumes, with thinner branches and smaller polyps, favor higher metabolic rates, compared to sea rods with thicker branches and larger polyps. Daily integrated photosynthesis to respiration ratios > 1 indicated that the autotrophic contribution to organisms' energy demands was important in all species, but especially in sea whips. This information represents an important step towards a better understanding of octocoral physiology and its relationship to host morphology, and might also explain to some extent species distribution and susceptibility to environmental stress.
Ayudas:	European Commission 327845 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2014/SGR-1356 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MDM2015-0552
Nota:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552
Derechos:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Lengua:	Anglès
Documento:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Publicado en:	Scientific reports, Vol. 8 (August 2018) , art. 12823, ISSN 2045-2322

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-31262-3
PMID: 30150781

14 p, 2.5 MB

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Documentos de investigación > Documentos de los grupos de investigación de la UAB > Centros y grupos de investigación (producción científica) > Ciencias > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
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