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Systematic Relationships Between Tropical Corallimorpharians

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Systematic Relationships Between Tropical Corallimorpharians BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE. 59( I): 196--208. 1996 CORAL REEF PAPER SYSTEMATIC RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TROPICAL CORALLIMORPHARIANS (CNIDARIA: ANTHOZOA: CORALLIMORPHARIA): UTILITY OF THE 5.8S AND INTERNAL TRANSCRIBED SPACER (ITS) REGIONS OF THE rRNA TRANSCRIPTION UNIT Chao/un A. Chen, Bette L. Willis and David J. Miller ABSTRACT The nucleotide sequences of a segment of the rRNA transcription unit spanning the 3'- end of the 18S rDNA to the 5'-end of the 28S rDNA were determined for the tropical corallimorpharians (Cnidaria: Anthozoa), Rhodactis howesii, R. mussoides, Amplexidiscus fenestrafer, Actinodiscus nummiformis, A. unguja and an undescribed species. Comparison of the 5.8S rDNA sequences indicated a close relationship between the genera Rhodactis and Amplexidiscus and a much more distant relationship between these two genera and Actinod- iscus spp. The level of variation detected in this conserved region of the ribosomal transcrip- tion unit is not consistent with den Hartog's revision of the family Actinodiscidae to a single genus. Among the range of species studied, there was considerable variation in both length and % (G+C) content in the ITS regions. Both ITS sequences appear to be conserved within genera but highly variable between genera, and can therefore be used for generic assignment. Analysis of both ITS and 5.8S rRNA sequences supports assignment of the undescribed species to the genus Amplexidiscus. The Corallimorpharia is a small and poorly characterized order within the an- thozoan sub-class Zoanthmia. Although morphologically similar to both the Ac- tiniaria (sea anemones) and Scleractinia (hard corals), the relationships between the Corallimorpharia and these two major orders of Hexacorallia are controversial (den Hartog, 1980; Fautin, 1993; Chen et a!., 1995). Within the order Coralli- morpharia, two distinct groups are recognisable: azooxanthallate genera which are limited to temperate and deeper waters, and zooxanthallate genera which are lim- ited to the tropics (Carlgren, 1949). This division is supported by phylogenetic analyses of the 5'-end of 28S ribosomal DNA (rDNA): in both parsimony and distance analyses, azooxanthallate corallimorpharians consistently clustered with primitive actiniarians, and zooxanthallate corallimorpharians with more advanced actiniarians (Chen et a!., 1995). Both the Corallimorpharia and Actiniaria may therefore be paraphyletic. Corallimorpharians are sometimes major components of tropical shallow water ecosystems (Fishelson, 1970; den Hartog, 1980; England, 1987). Traditionally, tropical corallimorpharians were classified into two families containing a total of six genera: the Actinodiscidae, containing Actinodiscus, Orinia, Paradiscosoma, Rhodactis and Metarhodactis, and the Corallimorphidae, containing the single genus, Ricordea (Carlgren, 1949). Of these genera, only three are known to have widespread distributions: Actinodiscus is restricted to the Red Sea and Indo-Pa- cific, whereas Rhodactis and Ricordea occur in both the Indo-Pacific and Carib- bean (Carlgren 1949). Orinia, Paradiscosoma and Metarhodactis each contain only a single species, the first two genera being restricted to the Caribbean and the last to the western Pacific (Carlgren, 1949). In addition to these, an Indo- Pacific species originally described as Discosoma yuma (Carlgren, 1900) should probably be relocated to the genus Ricordea (Chen, pers. obser.). Many of the criteria used to distinguish the actinodiscid genera, such as ab- 196 CHEN ET AL.: CORAL SYSTEMATICS 197 o 100 200km 15'S '25'S 150•E Figure 1. Map of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park showing collection sites. sence/presence of a naked marginal zone, cnidom composition and thickness of the mesogloeal ridge in the oral disc, are ambiguous (for review, see den Hartog, 1980). After extensively reviewing the Caribbean corallimorpharian fauna, which includes three species of actinodiscids, den Hartog (1980) recognized that these characters did not reflect generic differences, and proposed that all five actino- discid genera should be lumped into the single genus, Discosoma. A new genus has been proposed (Dunn and Hamner, 1980) to accommodate the morphologi- cally-distinct Australian species, Amplexidiscus fenestrafer (family Actinodisci- dae). Systematic relationships amongst these tropical corallimorpharians are equivocal, largely because there are few informative morphological characters. 198 BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE. VOL. 59,1"0. I, 1996 Table I. Taxonomic information, collecting locations of the tropical corallimorpharians, and number of individuals (in the brackets) used in this study. Identification was carried out by following the original descriptions and Carlgren's key (1949); thus we did not use Discosoma as synonymous to the original generic nomenclature. Collecting sites Taxon (from the Great Barrier Reef) Identification references* Rhodactis howesii Arthur Bay, Magnetic Island (4) Carlgren, 1949, 1950 Rhodactis mussoides Geoffrey Bay, Magnetic Island Saville-Kent, 1893; Haddon, (2) 1898; Carlgren, 1949 Amplexidiscus fenestrafer Swain Reef (2) Dunn and Hanmer, 1980 Undescribed species North Reef, Orpheus Island (2) Actinodiscus nummiformis Geoffrey Bay, Magnetic Island Carlgren, 1943 (1) Actinodiscus unguja Swain Reef (1) Carlgren, 1900 This paper reexamines den Hartog's proposal in the light of a revision of Indo- Pacific corallimorpharians (Chen, in prep.). The paucity of conserved morphological characters has led us to evaluate mo- lecular criteria for the estimation of systematic relationships between tropical cor- allimorpharians. The ribosomal RNA transcription unit has proved to be one of the most informative regions for this purpose (reviewed by Hillis and Dixon, 1991). In eukaryotes, two internal transcribed spacers (ITS I and ITS2) separate the 18S, 5.8S and 28S coding sequences, and an external transcribed spacer (ETS) is located 5'- of the 18S gene. These transcribed spacers contain signals for pro- cessing the rDNA transcript. Adjacent ribosomal RNA transcription units are sep- arated by a nontranscribed spacer (NTS) or intergenic spacer (IGS). This region contains subrepeating elements which enhance transcription (For review, see Hillis and Dixon, 1991). The coding regions of the rRNA transcription unit have been extensively used to investigate phylogenetic relationships from the phylum to the genus level (reviewed by Hillis and Dixon, 1991; Wainright et aI., 1993; Sidow and Thomas, 1994; Chen et aI., 1995); the transcribed spacers, on the other hand, are rapidly evolving regions that have been used to resolve relationships among closely-related animal (Maden et aI., 1983; Michot et aI., 1983; Goldman et aI., 1983; Chambers et aI., 1986; Gonzalez et aI., 1990; Wesson et aI., 1992; Anderson and Adlard, 1994) and plant (Torres et aI., 1990; Baldwin, 1992; Lee and Taylor, 1992; Saunders and Druehl, 1993, van Oppen, 1993; Zechman et aI., 1994) taxa. The aim of the present study was to explore the potential of ITS and 5.8S sequence data for estimating relationships among tropical corallimorpharian gen- era. For these purposes, we selected five species from the family Actinodiscidae and an undescribed species provisionally placed in this family (Chen, unpubI.). MATERIALS AND METHODS Material.-The six species of tropical corallimorpharians were collected from various sites on the Great Barrier Reef (Fig. I). Table 1 summarizes taxonomic information, collecting locations, and number of individuals used in the present study. DNA Extraction.-Genomic DNA was extracted as described in Chen et al. (1995). Small pieces (approximately 125 mm3) of tissue were ground into powder under liquid nitrogen, homogenised in 2-ml aliquots of lysis buffer (250 mM Tris-borate buffer, containing 50 mM EDTA, 0.5 M NaCI and 2% (w/v) SDS), and then incubated at 65°C for 30 min. After this time, proteinase K was added to 0.5 mg·ml-I final concentration, and the solutions incubated at 50°C until clear (4-48 h). The Iysates were then extracted two to three times with phenol-chloroform-isoamyl alcohol (25:24: I), and the DNA precipitated with isopropylalcohol and resuspended in sterile double-distilled water. CHEN ET AL.: CORAL SYSTEMATICS 199 188 5.88 288 15~ A7~ 55 ~ -I--CJ---I BD1 ~ ~A4 .....,-J'_~2SSBD2 Figure 2. Schematized ribosomal DNA repeat unit showing the positions of the ITS and coding regions. Positions and orientations of primers used for PCR and DNA sequencing are indicated by arrows. Primer sequences are given in Table 2. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).-PCR primers were designed from the conserved 185 and 285 regions to amplify the entire ITS and 5.8S (Fig. 2). Internal sequencing primers were designed from conserved 185 and 5.85, 285 regions (Fig. 2). The nucleotide sequences of primers used in this study are shown in Table 2. Amplification was performed using the following protocol: one cycle at 95°C (3 min), 50°C (l min), noc (2 min); four cycles at 94°C (30 s), 50°C (l min), noc (2 min), 25 cycles at 94°C (30 s), 57°C (l min), noc (2 min), and one cycle 75°C (\0 min). Taq polymerase (Promega) was used in the buffer supplied with the enzyme and under the conditions recommended by the manufacturer. PCR products were purified by preparative agarose gel electrophoresis, then extraction with phenol: cWoroform: isoamylalcohol, followed by precipitation using ethanol/sodium acetate. Cloning and DNA Sequencing.-PCR products were cloned into pUC vectors by blunt-end ligation. PCR products were end-filled using two units of Klenow
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