From genome wide SNPs to genomic islands of differentiation: the quest for species diagnostic markers in two scleractinian corals, Pocillopora and Porites

Abstract

Coral reefs are of paramount importance in marine ecosystems, where they provide support for a large part of the biodiversity. Being quite sensitive to global changes, they are therefore the prime targets for biodiversity conservation policies. However, such conservation goals require accurate species identification, which are notoriously difficult to get in these highly morphologically variable organisms, rich in cryptic species. There is an acute need for easy-to-use and resolutive species diagnostic molecular markers. The present study builds on the huge sequencing effort developed during the TARA Pacific expedition to develop a genotyping strategy to assign coral samples to the correct species within two coral genera (Porites and Pocillopora). For this purpose, we developed a technique that we called "Divergent Fragment" based on the sequencing of a less than 2kb long diagnostic genomic fragment determined from the metagenomic data of a subset of the corals collected. This method has proven to be rapid, resolvable and cost-effective. Sequencing of PCR fragments nested along the species diagnostic fragment allowed us to assign 232 individuals of the genus Pocillopora and 247 individuals of the genus Porites to previously identified independent genetic lineages (i.e. species). This genotyping method will allow to fully analyze the coral samples collected across the Pacific during the Tara Pacific expedition and opens technological perspectives in the field of population genomics-guided conservation.