Potential Trade-Off Between Temperature and Tissue Loss Resistance in Corals Associating With Algal Symbionts in the Genus Durusdinium

作者：Chan WY, Doering T, Meyers L, Maire J, Gøtze CR, Sakamoto R, van Oppen MJH · 发表于：Global change biology · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1111/gcb.70641 · 研究领域：Anthozoa、Symbiosis、Dinoflagellida、Animals、Temperature、Hot Temperature、Climate Change

The symbioses between corals and microorganisms, including the endosymbiotic dinoflagellates (family Symbiodiniaceae) and bacteria, are central to coral health and functioning. Certain species of Symbiodiniaceae in the genus Durusdinium are known to confer enhanced thermotolerance to corals and could therefore be beneficial under global climate change. However, association with thermotolerant algal symbionts may come with trade-offs that affect long-term coral persistence, and this study reports on one potentially consequential trade-off. We exposed colonies of the coral Galaxea fascicularis hosting Symbiodiniaceae in the genus Cladocopium (C-corals) or Durusdinium (D-corals) to elevated temperature equivalent to ~9.5 degree heating weeks. While C-corals were heat-sensitive, as evidenced by reduced Symbiodiniaceae cell density, photochemical efficiency and tissue pigmentation, they were resilient to tissue loss, maintained a stable bacterial community under elevated temperature, and showed limited mortality (12.5%) at the end of the 15-week recovery. Conversely, D-corals showed limited Symbiodiniaceae photodamage or tissue pigmentation loss under elevated temperature and initially demonstrated heat resilience. However, D-corals exhibited tissue loss and a significant reduction in newly formed polyps under elevated temperature, which occurred in parallel with a shift in their bacterial community composition toward taxa linked to bleaching, disease or algal overgrowth (e.g., Sp...