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Dinoflagellates of the family Symbiodiniaceae form mutualistic symbioses with marine invertebrates such as reef-building corals, but also inhabit reef environments as free-living cells. Most coral species acquire Symbiodiniaceae horizontally from the surrounding environment during the larval and/or recruitment phase, however the phylogenetic diversity and ecology of free-living Symbiodiniaceae on coral reefs is largely unknown. We coupled environmental DNA sequencing and genus-specific qPCR to resolve the community structure and cell abundances of free-living Symbiodiniaceae in the water column, sediment, and macroalgae and compared these to coral symbionts. Sampling was conducted at two time points, one of which coincided with the annual coral spawning event when recombination between hosts and free-living Symbiodiniaceae is assumed to be critical. Amplicons of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) region were assigned to 12 of the 15 Symbiodiniaceae genera or genera-equivalent lineages. Community compositions were separated by habitat, with water samples containing a high proportion of sequences corresponding to coral symbionts of the genus Cladocopium, potentially as a result of cell expulsion from in hospite populations. Sediment-associated Symbiodiniaceae communities were distinct, potentially due to the presence of exclusively free-living species. Intriguingly, macroalgal surfaces displayed the highest cell abundances of Symbiodiniaceae, suggesting a key role for macroalgae in ensuring the ecological success of corals through maintenance of a continuum between environmental and symbiotic populations of Symbiodiniaceae.

© 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. Climate change threatens the survival of scleractinian coral from exposure to concurrent ocean warming, acidification and deoxygenation; how corals can potentially adapt to this trio of stressors is currently unknown. This study investigates three coral species (Acropora muricata, Acropora pulchra and Porites lutea) dominant in an extreme mangrove lagoon (Bouraké, New Caledonia) where abiotic conditions exceed those predicted for many reef sites over the next 100 years under climate change and compared them to conspecifics from an environmentally more benign reef habitat. We studied holobiont physiology as well as plasticity in coral-associated microorganisms (Symbiodiniaceae and bacteria) through ITS2 and 16S rRNA sequencing, respectively. We hypothesised that differences in coral-associated microorganisms (Symbiodiniaceae and bacteria) between the lagoonal and adjacent reef habitats may support coral host productivity and ultimately the ability of corals to live in extreme environments. In the lagoon, all coral species exhibited a metabolic adjustment of reduced photosynthesis-to-respiration ratios (P/R), but this was accompanied by highly divergent coral host-specific microbial associations. This was substantiated by the absence of shared ITS2-type profiles (proxies for Symbiodiniaceae genotypes). We observed that ITS2 profiles originating from Durusdinium taxa made up < 3% and a novel Symbiodinium ITS2 profile A1-A1v associated with A. pulchra. Bacterial community profiles were also highly divergent in corals from the lagoonal environment, whereas corals from the reef site were consistently dominated by Hahellaceae, Endozoicomonas. As such, differences in host–microorganism associations aligned with different physiologies and habitats. Our results argue that a multitude of host–microorganism associations are required to fulfill the changing nutritional demands of corals persisting into environments that parallel climate change scenarios.

© 2017 The Author(s) Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology © 2017 International Society of Protistologists Dinoflagellates within the genus Symbiodinium are photosymbionts of many tropical reef invertebrates, including corals, making them central to the health of coral reefs. Symbiodinium have therefore gained significant research attention, though studies have been constrained by technical limitations. In particular, the generation of viable cells with their cell walls removed (termed protoplasts) has enabled a wide range of experimental techniques for bacteria, fungi, plants, and algae such as ultrastructure studies, virus infection studies, patch clamping, genetic transformation, and protoplast fusion. However, previous studies have struggled to remove the cell walls from armored dinoflagellates, potentially due to the internal placement of their cell walls. Here, we produce the first Symbiodinium protoplasts from three genetically and physiologically distinct strains via incubation with cellulase and osmotic agents. Digestion of the cell walls was verified by a lack of Calcofluor White fluorescence signal and by cell swelling in hypotonic culture medium. Fused protoplasts were also observed, motivating future investigation into intra- and inter-specific somatic hybridization of Symbiodinium. Following digestion and transfer to regeneration medium, protoplasts remained photosynthetically active, regrew cell walls, regained motility, and entered exponential growth. Generation of Symbiodinium protoplasts opens exciting, new avenues for researching these crucial symbiotic dinoflagellates, including genetic modification.