The dinoflagellate genus Symbiodinium is a popular research topic in the coral reef
molecular biology field. Primarily because these organisms serve as the coral
holobiont’s primary source of energy, carrying out photosynthesis, and providing
hydrocarbons to the coral host. Previous studies have shown the difficulty of
isolating Symbiodinium as well as the inherent problems in trying to quantify the
diversity of this genus and to qualify the distinct reactions of different Symbiodinium
sp. to changing environmental conditions. The main goals of this study are: (1) to
detail the relationship between the genetic classification of the organism and its
physiology in regard to photosynthesis with a number of established Symbiodinium
cultures; and (2) to isolate Symbiodinium from coral of the central Red Sea.
To evaluate the photosynthetic physiology of Symbiodinium, a microsensor was used
to measure oxygen concentrations along with a phytoplankton analyzer system that
used pulse-amplitude-modulation (Phyto-PAM) to measure fluorescence. In order to
identify the particular clade that the isolates belonged to, denaturing gradient gel
electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) was used to identify Symbiodinium based on their
internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region. These techniques helped us to achieve
our goals in the following ways: Symbiodinium sp. from a culture collection were
classified to the subclade level; species-specific and clade-specific photosynthetic
profiles were generated; and a Symbiodinium sp. was isolated from the central Red
Sea. This study provided preliminary correlation between the photosynthetic
difference and Symbiodinium genetic classification; showed the probable existence
of a self-protection system inside the Symbiodinium cells by comparing the
difference between the initial oxygen production at the beginning of each light step
and the oxygen production after light adaptation; and confirmed the possibility of
the isolation of Symbiodinium.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:kaust.edu.sa/oai:repository.kaust.edu.sa:10754/253670 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Gong, Xianzhe |
| Contributors | Voolstra, Christian R., Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) Division, Roder, Cornelia, Stingl, Ulrich |
| Source Sets | King Abdullah University of Science and Technology |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | 2013-07-28, At the time of archiving, the student author of this thesis opted to temporarily restrict access to it. The full text of this thesis became available to the public after the expiration of the embargo on 2013-07-28. |
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