ORIGINAL ARTICLE
doi:10.1111/evo.12270
HOST-SPECIALIST LINEAGES DOMINATE THE ADAPTIVE RADIATION OF REEF CORAL ENDOSYMBIONTS
Daniel J. Thornhill,1 Allison M. Lewis,2 Drew C. Wham,2 and Todd C. LaJeunesse2,3 1Department of Conservation Science and Policy, Defenders of Wildlife, 1130 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 2Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, 208 Mueller Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802 3E-mail: [email protected]
Received April 8, 2013 Accepted September 4, 2013 Data Archived: Dryad doi: 10.5061/dryad.2247c
Bursts in species diversification are well documented among animals and plants, yet few studies have assessed recent adaptive radiations of eukaryotic microbes. Consequently, we examined the radiation of the most ecologically dominant group of endosym- biotic dinoflagellates found in reef-building corals, Symbiodinium Clade C, using nuclear ribosomal (ITS2), chloroplast (psbAncr), and multilocus microsatellite genotyping. Through a hierarchical analysis of high-resolution genetic data, we assessed whether ecologically distinct Symbiodinium, differentiated by seemingly equivocal rDNA sequence differences, are independent species lin- eages. We also considered the role of host specificity in Symbiodinium speciation and the correspondence between endosymbiont diversification and Caribbean paleo-history. According to phylogenetic, biological, and ecological species concepts, Symbiodinium Clade C comprises many distinct species. Although regional factors contributed to population-genetic structuring of these lineages, Symbiodinium diversification was mainly driven by host specialization. By combining patterns of the endosymbiont’s host speci- ficity, water depth distribution, and phylogeography with paleo-historical signals of climate change, we inferred that present-day species diversity on Atlantic coral reefs stemmed mostly from a post-Miocene adaptive radiation. Host-generalist progenitors spread, specialized, and diversified during the ensuing epochs of prolonged global cooling and change in reef-faunal assemblages. Our evolutionary reconstruction thus suggests that Symbiodinium undergoes “boom and bust” phases in diversification and extinction during major climate shifts.
KEY WORDS: Climate change, coral symbiosis, dinoflagellate, ecological specialization, phylogeography, speciation, Symbio- dinium.
Adaptive radiations occur when lineages diversify in response to verswords (Baldwin et al. 1991). By comparison, relatively little is a variety of ecological opportunities (Gavrilets and Losos 2009; known about the adaptive radiations of microorganisms, including Glor 2010). These bursts of diversification occurred repeatedly at marine protists (see Falkowski et al. 2004). Their size, impover- different taxonomic, spatial, and temporal scales throughout the ished geologic record, and difficulty in acquiring uncontaminated history of life. Iconic examples of adaptive radiations include the specimens for genetic analysis have limited our understanding of Cambrian explosion (Valentine et al. 1999), the Cenozoic diversi- the tempo and mode of their diversification. fication of therian mammals (Janis 1993; Agadjanian 2003), and Indications of the nature of adaptive radiations in eukary- more recent radiations of Darwin’s finches of the Galapagos´ is- otic microbes can be derived from the major groups of mod- lands (Grant and Grant 2007), African cichlids (Seehausen 2006), ern eukaryotic phytoplankton—the dinoflagellates, diatoms, and Caribbean island Anolis lizards (Losos 2011), and Hawaiian sil- coccolithophorids—following the mass extinction of marine life