Unexpected mixed-mode transmission and moderate genetic regulation of Symbiodinium communities in a brooding coral

Determining the extent to which Symbiodinium communities in corals are inherited versus environmentally-acquired is fundamental to understanding coral resilience and to predicting coral responses to stressors like warming oceans that disrupt this critical endosymbiosis. We examined the fidelity with which Symbiodinium communities in the brooding coral Seriatopora hystrix are vertically transmitted and the extent to which communities are genetically regulated, by genotyping 60 larvae and their parents (9 maternal and 45 paternal colonies) using high throughput sequencing of the ITS-2 locus. Unexpectedly, Symbiodinium communities associated with brooded larvae were distinct from those within parent colonies, including the presence of types not detected in adults. Bayesian heritability (h2) analysis revealed that 33% of variability in larval Symbiodinium communities was genetically controlled. Results highlight flexibility in the establishment of larval communities and overturn the paradigm that symbiont transmission is exclusively vertical in brooding corals. Instead, we show that Symbiodinium transmission in S. hystrix involves a mixed-mode strategy, similar to many terrestrial invertebrate symbioses. Also, variation in the abundances of common Symbiodinium types among adult communities suggests that microhabitat differences influence the structure of in hospite Symbiodinium communities. Partial genetic regulation coupled with flexibility in the environmentally-acquired component of larval Symbiodinium communities implies that corals with vertical transmission, like S. hystrix, may be more resilient to environmental change than previously thought.