Title

Molecular Determination of Species Boundaries in Corals: Genetic Analysis of the Montastraea annularis Complex Using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms and a Microsatellite Marker

Authors

Jose V. Lopez, Harbor Branch Oceanographic InstitutionFollow
Ralf Kersanach, Smithsonian Institution
Stephen A. Rehner, University of Puerto Rico
Nancy Knowlton, University of California - San Diego

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-1999

Publication Title

Biological Bulletin

Keywords

Animals, Southern blotting, Cnidaria, Electrophoresis, Gene amplification, Microsatellite repeats, Molecular sequence data, Genetic polymorphism, Restriction fragment length polymorphism, Sequence analysis, Spermatozoa

ISSN

0006-3185

Volume

196

Issue/No.

1

First Page

80

Last Page

93

Abstract

Analyses of DNA have not been widely used to distinguish coral sibling species. The three members of the Montastraea annularis complex represent an important test case: they are widely studied and dominate Caribbean reefs, yet their taxonomic status remains unclear. Analysis of amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) and a microsatellite locus, using DNA from sperm, showed that Montastraea faveolata is genetically distinct. One AFLP primer yielded a diagnostic product (880 bp in M. faveolata, 920 bp in M. franksi and M. annularis) whose homology was established by DNA sequencing. A second primer revealed a 630 bp band that was fixed in M. faveolata, and rare in M. franksi and M. annularis; in this case homologies were confirmed by Southern hybridizations. A tetranucleotide microsatellite locus with several alleles exhibited strong frequency differences between M. faveolata and the other two taxa. We did not detect comparable differences between M. annularis and M. franksi with either AFLPs (12 primers screened) or the microsatellite locus. Comparisons of AFLP patterns obtained from DNA from sperm, somatic tissues, and zooxanthellae suggest that the technique routinely amplifies coral (animal) DNA. Thus analyses based on somatic tissues may be feasible, particularly after diagnostic differences have been established using sperm DNA.

NSUWorks Citation

Lopez, Jose V.; Ralf Kersanach; Stephen A. Rehner; and Nancy Knowlton. 1999. "Molecular Determination of Species Boundaries in Corals: Genetic Analysis of the Montastraea annularis Complex Using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms and a Microsatellite Marker." Biological Bulletin 196, (1): 80-93. doi:10.2307/1543170.

ORCID ID

0000-0002-1637-4125

ResearcherID

F-8809-2011

DOI

10.2307/1543170