Mokady O, Rozenblatt S, Graur D, Loya Y
Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Mol Mar Biol Biotechnol. 1994 Jun;3(3):158-64.
Comparison of 12S mitochondrial ribosomal DNA sequences was used to approach the question of species specificity between boring bivalves of the genus Lithophaga and their coral hosts. A 450-bp long fragment was amplified by PCR from 13 individuals belonging to five subgroups of Lithophaga bivalves. These subgroups are defined according to their coral hosts species, and they belong to three currently recognized species: L. lessepsiana (1 host), L. simplex (2 hosts), and L. purpurea (2 hosts). All bivalves were collected from corals growing within an approximately 200-m section of the reef of Eilat, Red Sea. Sequence variation between members of the same species inhabiting different hosts (30-32%) was found to be very similar to the variation exhibited between recognized species. These results, when interpreted together with previously published data concerning variations among Lithophaga subgroups, support the notion of a very high degree of species specificity between Lithophaga bivalves and their coral hosts in the Red Sea.
通过比较12S线粒体核糖体DNA序列来探讨石蛏属穿孔双壳贝类与其珊瑚宿主之间的物种特异性问题。从属于石蛏双壳贝类五个亚组的13个个体中，通过聚合酶链反应（PCR）扩增出一段450个碱基对长的片段。这些亚组是根据其珊瑚宿主物种定义的，它们属于目前公认的三个物种：红海石蛏（1种宿主）、简单石蛏（2种宿主）和紫色石蛏（2种宿主）。所有双壳贝类均采自红海埃拉特礁约200米区域内生长的珊瑚。发现栖息于不同宿主的同一物种成员之间的序列变异（30 - 32%）与公认物种之间表现出的变异非常相似。这些结果与先前发表的有关石蛏亚组间变异的数据一起解释时，支持了红海石蛏双壳贝类与其珊瑚宿主之间存在高度物种特异性的观点。
