Molecular diversity of symbiotic algae at the latitudinal margins of their distribution: dinoflagellates of the genus Symbiodinium in corals and sea anemones

摘要

To investigate the molecular diversity of symbiotic algae at the latitudinal limits of their distribution, the ribosomal RNA gene sequences (rDNA) of the dinoflagellate Symbiodinium in ben-thic Cnidaria (corals, sea anemones etc.) on Bermuda (32°N) and in the Mediterranean and NE Atlantic (35 to 53°N) were analysed. The algae in Bermudian Cnidaria were identified as Symbiodinium of Phylotypes A, B and C, as previously described for benthic Cnidaria in the Caribbean (12 to 27°N). The algae in every sample of sea anemones (Anemonia spp. and Cereuspedunculatus) in the NE Atlantic and Mediterranean were a previously undescribed group within Phylotype A, possibly endemic to this high latitude region.