Comparison of grafting versus a molecular genetic technique in identifying clone mates of the reef coral Porites rus

ABSTRACT: The reef coral Porites rus is uncommon on reefs along the coast of south Moloka‘i,Hawaii, USA, but where found, it covers extensive areas of the reef flat. This pattern suggests along history of asexual reproduction through fragmentation and dispersal of colonies during largewave events. Genetic comparisons within and between 2 such large isolated populations weremade using the classic technique of tissue grafting compared to a more recently developed molec-ular technique. Both approaches showed that the 2 populations are genetically distinct from eachother. All samples taken from one population consisted of a single genotype, while the secondpopulation consisted of 2 genotypes that were distinct from the first population. The moleculartechnique is ultimately a more powerful tool for population studies, but is technically far morecomplex, expensive and time consuming. The grafting technique has the advantage of simplicityand very low cost, and is suitable for some types of investigations.KEY WORDS: Population biology · Reef coral · Fragmentation · Clonal structure · Recruitment ·Sexual reproduction · Asexual reproduction