Keynote: Master of the House? Emerging Insights on the Cell Biology and Ecology of Coral-Dinoflagellate Mutualisms
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Location
HCAS Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University
Start
2-13-2025 11:15 AM
End
2-13-2025 12:30 PM
Type of Presentation
Oral Presentation
Abstract
Certain kinds of invertebrates engage with unicellular dinoflagellates to form complex, highly integrated, mutualisms. While eukaryotes as symbionts are extremely rare among notable Intracellular mutualisms, this special union is exceptionally widespread and their productivity results in the creation of a major tropical marine ecosystem. Sensitivity to thermal stress and the demise of coral reef ecosystems globally has stirred considerable interest in the cell biology, physiology, and ecology of this partnership. The recent critical advances in resolving the symbiont’s identity have changed our understanding of these mutualisms in fundamental ways. The testing of various species concepts and establishment of a formal systematics and taxonomy has shifted perceptions about symbiont diversity, distribution, host specificity, and evolution. These basic innovations, made possible with the use of genetics, have lead to exciting discoveries and created new areas of inquiry. Sampling diverse host species living across geographic and depth gradients and the same host individual over time, combined with experimental manipulations of host colonies have provided additional insights about the ecological habits and evolutionary dynamics of the dinoflagellate partner. This and related research reveals much about the give and take of these mutualisms and which partner has greater control over the relationship.
Keynote: Master of the House? Emerging Insights on the Cell Biology and Ecology of Coral-Dinoflagellate Mutualisms
HCAS Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University
Certain kinds of invertebrates engage with unicellular dinoflagellates to form complex, highly integrated, mutualisms. While eukaryotes as symbionts are extremely rare among notable Intracellular mutualisms, this special union is exceptionally widespread and their productivity results in the creation of a major tropical marine ecosystem. Sensitivity to thermal stress and the demise of coral reef ecosystems globally has stirred considerable interest in the cell biology, physiology, and ecology of this partnership. The recent critical advances in resolving the symbiont’s identity have changed our understanding of these mutualisms in fundamental ways. The testing of various species concepts and establishment of a formal systematics and taxonomy has shifted perceptions about symbiont diversity, distribution, host specificity, and evolution. These basic innovations, made possible with the use of genetics, have lead to exciting discoveries and created new areas of inquiry. Sampling diverse host species living across geographic and depth gradients and the same host individual over time, combined with experimental manipulations of host colonies have provided additional insights about the ecological habits and evolutionary dynamics of the dinoflagellate partner. This and related research reveals much about the give and take of these mutualisms and which partner has greater control over the relationship.