SEMINAR: **REMINDER** MBF602 STUDENT SEMINAR TODAY @ 1pm---Xaymara M. Serrano

[Pam Harris <pharris@rsmas.miami.edu>]

 

MBF Student Seminar Series

 

 

Xaymara M. Serrano

Advisor: Dr. Andrew Baker

“Vertical genetic connectivity in the Caribbean reef building corals Montastraea cavernosa and Porites astreoides”

The Deep Reef Refugia hypothesis (DRRH) suggests that deep reefs can act as local recruitment sources for shallow reefs following disturbance. Testing this hypothesis has been difficult, in part due to the scarcity of genetic makers for depth-generalist coral species. To overcome this limitation, microsatellite loci were developed for two Caribbean coral species with different reproductive life-history strategies (Montastraea cavernosa and Porites astreoides) to assess vertical connectivity between 3 depth zones (<10m, 15-20m and >25m) at sites in Florida, Bermuda and U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). We also tested whether depth zonation in algal symbionts (Symbiodinium spp.) might limit effective connectivity due to maternal transmission of symbionts from parent colonies to larvae. The broadcasting coral M. cavernosa showed slight genetic differentiation between different depths in Florida (but not in Bermuda or the USVI), despite high levels of horizontal connectivity between different shallow sites separated by up to 1,700km. There was no evidence for depth zonation in symbionts, with most colonies hosting Symbiodinium C1. Finally, ongoing analyses for the brooding coral P. astreoides show significant genetic differentiation by geographic location and depth, as well as differences in algal symbionts. Together, these findings partly support the DRRH, but indicate its importance varies with both reproductive mode and geographic location.

 

 

 

Friday, March 2, 2012

1:00pm

 

RSMAS campus, S/A 103

 

Pamela Harris
Administrative Assistant
Marine Biology and Fisheries
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
University of Miami
4600 Rickenbacker Causeway/SLAB-118
Miami, FL 33149
(305) 421-4176
fax - (305) 421-4600
pharris@rsmas.miami.edu
http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/academics/divisions/marine-biology-fisheries/