Sequence variation of the first internal spacer (ITS-1) of ribosomal DNA in ahermatypic corals from California.

Interspecific and intraspecific variation in the first internal transcribed spacer region (ITS-1) of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) was examined in two species of ahermatypic corals (lacking symbiotic algae and non-reef-building) with different dispersal characteristics, Paracyathus stearnsii (gamete-spawner with pelagic larvae) and Balanophyllia elegans (brooder with benthic larvae) from California. An approximately 300-bp region of the ITS-1 was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced from populations at Pt. Loma, La Jolla, Monterey Bay, and Santa Catalina Island and compared for each species and compared with the same region from the hermatypic coral Favia lizardensis. There was a wide range of sequence variation in the ITS-1 region between the species, and these differences readily distinguished the taxa. Intraspecific comparisons of P. stearnsii individuals showed very little sequence variation (two polymorphisms) in the ITS-1 region. In contrast to P. stearnsii, we found 14 variable nucleotide sties in the ITS-1 region for B. elegans. Although there were no nucleotide sites that diagnostically separated central and southern populations, these findings indicate that the ITS-1 region is variable in B. elegans and a promising source for nuclear molecular markers in ahermatypic corals.