ORCID Profile
0000-0002-4843-0187
Current Organisation
University of Tasmania
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-05-2010
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-02-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.YMPEV.2012.03.005
Abstract: The family Melithaeidae (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea) is distributed in the West Pacific, Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. They are most abundant in warmer waters but can also be found in temperate waters. At present six genera are assigned to this family (Melithaea, Mopsella, Clathraria, Acabaria, Wrightella and Asperaxis), however overlapping characteristics make this group's taxonomic identification difficult and their relationships unclear. There are only a few reports from the Ryukyu Archipelago in southern Japan of melithaeids and most other octocorals, despite the islands being an area of high octocoral ersity. To help resolve the taxonomic confusion in this family, s les from various Ryukyu Archipelago locations were collected and DNA sequences of nuclear 28S ribosomal DNA and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) were obtained. Additionally, SEM micrographs of the sclerites of specimens were taken to further confirm the molecular results. Three strongly supported clades were recovered from the COI and 28S rDNA analyses, corresponding to Melithaea, Acabaria, and Mopsella, and in most cases clades were clearly related with the sclerite shape reported for each genus. These results show clearly that molecular differences are present between the three genera, and also demonstrates the strong need of other molecular markers for resolving intra-generic phylogenies. Our results provide baseline data for future studies of this octocoral family, not only on taxonomy, but also with regards to their distribution in the Ryukyu Islands.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2007
DOI: 10.1016/J.YMPEV.2006.11.005
Abstract: Gorgoniid octocorals taxonomy (Cnidaria Octocorallia Gorgoniidae) includes diagnostic characters not well defined at the generic level, and based on the family diagnosis some species could be classified in either Gorgoniidae or Plexauridae. In this study, we used sequences from the Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 (ITS2) and their predicted RNA secondary structure to both correct the alignment and reconstruct phylogenies using molecular morphometrics for 24 octocorals mostly from the Atlantic. ITS2 exhibited the six-helicoidal ring-model structure found in eukaryotes, and provided 38 parsimony-informative characters. The proposed phylogenies, though differing between sequence- and structure-base results, provided consistent support for several clades. Genera considered part of the polyphyletic genus Leptogorgia, such as Filigorgia, were distantly related to the former in all phylogenetic hypotheses. Main differences among the hypotheses consisted in the placement of Muriceopsis (previously considered from the Plexauridae family) and Filigorgia. Excluding Muriceopsis and an undescribed octocoral from Tobago, Plexaurella and Pterogorgia grouped together as a sister branch of Pinnigorgia spp. but long-branch attraction was evident for the grouping of Plexaurella nutans (another plexaurid) and Pterogorgia citrina. Unexpected results were the ergence between Caribbean genera, Gorgonia and Pseudopterogorgia, which were placed basal respect to Pacifigorgia and Leptogorgia (=Lophogorgia). ITS2 provided support to corroborate observations based on sclerite morphology: species with "capstan sclerites" (e.g., Pacifigorgia and Leptogorgia) were characterized by a long helix IV with one internal loop and a helix V with four internal loops "scaphoid sclerites" had a predominantly long helix V if compared to helix IV "asymmetric spiny sclerites" (Muriceopsis, Pinnigorgia and the undescribed octocoral) exhibited one or two lateral bulges in the V helix. Remarkably, Muriceopsis and Pinnigorgia were supported by a complete Compensatory Base Change (CBC) (A-U to G-C) in helix V. Filigorgia with simple "spindles" had a short helix IV and a large central ring. DNA sequences from the nuclear ITS2 region, including information from predicted RNA secondary structure, despite their reduced length, provided numerous characters and phylogenetic information among Gorgoniidae genera and species.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2018
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 29-06-2023
DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.28.546780
Abstract: Orbicella faveolata , commonly known as the mountainous star coral, is a dominant reef-building species in the Caribbean, but populations have suffered sharp declines since the 1980s due to repeated bleaching and disease-driven mortality. Prior research has shown that inshore adult O. faveolata populations in the Florida Keys are able to maintain high coral cover and recover from bleaching faster than their offshore counterparts. However, whether this origin-specific variation in thermal resistance is heritable remains unclear. To address this knowledge gap, we produced purebred and hybrid larval crosses from O. faveolata gametes collected at two distinct reefs in the Upper Florida Keys, a nearshore site (Cheeca Rocks, CR) and an offshore site (Horseshoe Reef, HR), in two different years (2019, 2021). We then subjected these aposymbiotic larvae to severe (36 °C) and moderate (32 °C) heat challenges to quantify their thermal tolerance. Contrary to our expectation based on patterns of adult thermal tolerance, HR purebred larvae survived better and exhibited gene expression profiles that were less driven by stress response under elevated temperature compared to purebred CR and hybrid larvae. One potential explanation could be compromised reproductive output of CR adult colonies due to repeated summer bleaching events in 2018 and 2019, as gametes originating from CR in 2019 contained less storage lipids than those from HR. These findings provide an important counter-ex le to the current selective breeding paradigm, that more tolerant parents will yield more tolerant offspring, and highlight the importance of adopting a holistic approach when evaluating larval quality for conservation and restoration purposes.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-10-2023
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.16977
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-08-2017
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-06-2007
Abstract: Most phylogenetic studies using current methods have focused on primary DNA sequence information. However, RNA secondary structures are particularly useful in systematics because they include characteristics, not found in the primary sequence, that give "morphological" information. Despite the number of recent molecular studies on octocorals, there is no consensus opinion about a region that carries enough phylogenetic resolution to solve intrageneric or close species relationships. Moreover, intrageneric morphological information by itself does not always produce accurate phylogenies intra-species comparisons can reveal greater differences than intra-generic ones. The search for new phylogenetic approaches, such as by RNA secondary structure analysis, is therefore a priority in octocoral research. Initially, twelve predicted RNA secondary structures were reconstructed to provide the basic information for phylogenetic analyses they accorded with the 6 helicoidal ring model, also present in other groups of corals and eukaryotes. We obtained three similar topologies for nine species of the Caribbean gorgonian genus Eunicea (candelabrum corals) with two sister taxa as outgroups (genera Plexaura and Pseudoplexaura ) on the basis of molecular morphometrics of ITS2 RNA secondary structures only, traditional primary sequence analyses and maximum likelihood, and a Bayesian analysis of the combined data. The latter approach allowed us to include both primary sequence and RNA molecular morphometrics each data partition was allowed to have a different evolution rate. In addition, each helix was partitioned as if it had evolved at a distinct rate. Plexaura flexuosa was found to group within Eunicea this was best supported by both the molecular morphometrics and combined analyses. We suggest Eunicea flexuosa (Lamouroux, 1821) comb. nov., and we present a new species description including Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images of morphological characteristics (sclerites). Eunicea flexuosa , E. pallida , E. laxispica and E. mammosa formed a separate clade in the molecular phylogenies, and were reciprocally monophyletic with respect to other Eunicea ( Euniceopsis subgenus, e.g. E. tourneforti and E. laciniata ) in the molecular morphometrics tree, with the exception of E. fusca . Moreover, we suggest a new diagnostic character for Eunicea , also present in E. flexuosa : middle layer sclerites 1 mm in length. ITS2 was a reliable sequence for intrageneric studies in gorgonian octocorals because of the amount of phylogenetic signal, and was corroborated against morphological characters separating Eunicea from Plexaura . The ITS2 RNA secondary structure approach to phylogeny presented here did not rely on alignment methods such as INDELS, but provided clearly homologous characters for partition analysis and RNA molecular morphometrics. These approaches support the ergence of Eunicea flexuosa comb. nov. from the outgroup Plexaura , although it has been considered part of this outgroup for nearly two centuries because of morphological resemblance.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 19-07-2021
DOI: 10.3389/FMARS.2021.660153
Abstract: Although coral reef ecosystems across the globe are in decline due to climate change and other anthropogenic stressors, certain inshore reefs of the Upper Florida Keys reef tract have persisted, with some even thriving, under marginalized conditions. To better understand the molecular basis of the thermotolerance displayed by these corals, a laboratory-based temperature challenge experiment that also featured conspecifics from a more stress-susceptible offshore reef was conducted with the common Caribbean reef-builder Orbicella faveolata , and the proteomes of both the coral hosts and their endosymbiotic dinoflagellate communities were profiled in (1) controls, (2) corals that succumbed to high-temperature stress and bleached, and (3) those that instead acclimated to high temperatures ex situ . Proteomic signatures varied most significantly across temperatures, host genotypes, and Symbiodiniaceae assemblages, and the two eukaryotic compartments of this mutualism exhibited distinct proteomic responses to high temperatures. Both partners maintained high levels of molecular chaperones and other canonical (eukaryotic) stress response (CSR) proteins in all treatments (including controls). Instead, proteins involved in lipid trafficking, metabolism, and photosynthesis played greater roles in the holobionts’ high-temperature responses, and these energy mobilization processes may have sustained the elevated protein turnover rates associated with the constitutively active CSR.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2007
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2014
Location: United States of America
No related grants have been discovered for Catalina Aguilar.