The functional role of photosynthesis-related genes in non-photosynthetic symbionts of corals

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We collected coral colonies and performed DNA extraction. In order to identify apicomplexans associated with corals (order Corallicolida, also called corallicolids), PCR amplification was conducted using specific primers for the 18S rRNA region and Sanger sequencing. Preliminary results indicated that most corals from Japan and other parts of the Indo-Pacific Ocean associated with the same generalist corallicolid species. Still, some corals samples were associated with a distinct corallicolid lineage.Additionally, library preparation and MiSeq sequecing was used to evaluate the diversity of microbes associated with corals, using 16S rRNA (bacteria), 18S rRNA (Eukaryotes), and ITS2 rRNA (diniflagellates of the family Symbiodiniaceae) primers. We analyzed the data with bioinformatics following published pipelines. Preliminary results showed that corals associated with Symbiodiniaceae of the genera Cladocopium, Durisdinium and Symbiodinium. Moreover, corals from the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific oceans have a different Symbiodiniaceae composition. In relation to bacteria, the mutualistic genus Endozoicomonas was the most common symbiont of corals. Some samples were associated with Vibrio spp., which are opportunistic pathogens. Samples from different regions on the Indo-Pacific Ocean analyzed so far had a different bacterial composition.