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The future of evolutionary diversity in reef corals.

ABSTRACT: One-third of the world's reef-building corals are facing heightened extinction risk from climate change and other anthropogenic impacts. Previous studies have shown that such threats are not distributed randomly across the coral tree of life, and future extinctions have the potential to disproportionately reduce the phylogenetic diversity of this group on a global scale. However, the impact of such losses on a regional scale remains poorly known. In this study, we use phylogenetic metrics in conjunction with geographical distributions of living reef coral species to model how extinctions are likely to affect evolutionary diversity across different ecoregions. Based on two measures-phylogenetic diversity and phylogenetic species variability-we highlight regions with the largest losses of evolutionary diversity and hence of potential conservation interest. Notably, the projected loss of evolutionary diversity is relatively low in the most species-rich areas such as the Coral Triangle, while many regions with fewer species stand to lose much larger shares of their diversity. We also suggest that for complex ecosystems like coral reefs it is important to consider changes in phylogenetic species variability; areas with disproportionate declines in this measure should be of concern even if phylogenetic diversity is not as impacted. These findings underscore the importance of integrating evolutionary history into conservation planning for safeguarding the future diversity of coral reefs.

SUBMITTER: Huang D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4290424 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The future of evolutionary diversity in reef corals.

Huang Danwei D Roy Kaustuv K

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences 20150201 1662

One-third of the world's reef-building corals are facing heightened extinction risk from climate change and other anthropogenic impacts. Previous studies have shown that such threats are not distributed randomly across the coral tree of life, and future extinctions have the potential to disproportionately reduce the phylogenetic diversity of this group on a global scale. However, the impact of such losses on a regional scale remains poorly known. In this study, we use phylogenetic metrics in con ...[more]

PMID: 25561671

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Project description:INTRODUCTION:Reef-building corals (Scleractinia) exhibit various colors, of which fluorescent proteins (FPs) are a major determinant. Gene duplication is considered a major mechanism in the generation of the FP gene family and color diversity. Examining gene duplication events and subsequent evolution may improve our understanding of FP gene family diversity. RESULTS:We isolated a novel FP gene family from one individual of Montipora sp., which we named monGFP (GFP gene from Montipora sp.). This gene family consists of at least four genes that produce at least six different cDNA sequences. The sequences were categorized into two types based on the length of cDNA; this difference is attributed to alternative splicing. Although the amino acid sequences were different, the emission spectra of the monGFP variants were nearly identical (518-521 nm). In addition to this gene family, we isolated ten paralogous AdiFP10 (Adi-Fluorescent protein-10 gene from Acropora digitifera) sequences from cDNA of two Acropora species, A. digitifera and A. tenuis. Based on our phylogenetic analysis, five sequences from A. digitifera and four sequences from A. tenuis appeared to be in a different cluster from AdiFP10, suggesting a new FP gene cluster. The FP sequences were likely to have been generated independently in each species or generated by gene duplications in the ancestral lineage of Acropora, followed by extensive gene conversion within each species. CONCLUSION:Our results clarify a part of the diversification process of FP genes during the evolutionary history of Montipora and Acropora species. Our analyses of monGFP indicate that FPs translated from different splicing variants and gene copies have evolved without changes in the function of fluorescence, and gene copies have been evolved under purifying selection. On the other hand, AdiFP10 paralogs and other RFP genes in Acropora species may have diversified their functions. Identification of conserved and divergent modes of evolution after the duplication of FP genes may reflect variation in the biological roles of different FPs.

Dataset Information

The future of evolutionary diversity in reef corals.

Publications

The future of evolutionary diversity in reef corals.

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