Can Gene Expression Studies Inform Coral Reef Conservation and Restoration?

Kenkel, Carly D.; Wright, Rachel M.

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-07055-6_10

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 136 publications

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“…Due to the increasing frequency of marine heatwaves, mass coral bleaching events are projected to become the norm annually by mid-century [8,9]. As such, many studies have focused on the response of reef-building corals to thermal stress alone [10][11][12]. However, as corals are calcifying organisms that build aragonite skeletons, lower seawater pH and aragonite saturation due to ocean and coastal acidification [9] represent an additional drain on the energy required to maintain homeostasis [13,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synergistic response to climate stressors in coral is associated with genotypic variation in baseline expression

Dilworth,

Million,

Ruggeri

et al. 2024

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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As environments are rapidly reshaped due to climate change, phenotypic plasticity plays an important role in the ability of organisms to persist and is considered an especially important acclimatization mechanism for long-lived sessile organisms such as reef-building corals. Often, this ability of a single genotype to display multiple phenotypes depending on the environment is modulated by changes in gene expression, which can vary in response to environmental changes via two mechanisms: baseline expression and expression plasticity. We used transcriptome-wide expression profiling of eleven genotypes of common-gardened Acropora cervicornis to explore genotypic variation in the expression response to thermal and acidification stress, both individually and in combination. We show that the combination of these two stressors elicits a synergistic gene expression response, and that both baseline expression and expression plasticity in response to stress show genotypic variation. Additionally, we demonstrate that frontloading of a large module of coexpressed genes is associated with greater retention of algal symbionts under combined stress. These results illustrate that variation in the gene expression response of individuals to climate change stressors can persist even when individuals have shared environmental histories, affecting their performance under future climate change scenarios.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synergistic response to climate stressors in coral is associated with genotypic variation in baseline expression

Dilworth,

Million,

Ruggeri

et al. 2024

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…Understanding the mechanisms underlying coral bleaching and the genomic basis for adaptive capacity has primarily been explored using transcriptome (RNA‐seq) data (Cziesielski et al., 2019 ; Kenkel & Wright, 2022 ; Young et al., 2023 ). However, these information‐rich datasets are often impacted by factors that can hinder straightforward interpretation, including host taxonomy and genotype, natural history, geographic origin, algal symbiont composition, and coral developmental stage (Ruggeri et al., 2022 ; Thomas et al., 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Differences in host sensitivity to thermal stress appeared to be driven by elevated baseline photosynthetic rates in P. acuta and lower antioxidant capacity. Important for this study, because both species showed clear physiological responses to temperature, we were able to investigate the RNA‐seq data under two competing “strawman” models: (1) gene expression is largely independent of genotype, reflecting a shared response driven by physiological response to treatment (Treatment‐Driven Expression, TDE [e.g., Kenkel & Wright, 2022 ]) or, (2) genotype dominates gene expression, regardless of physiological response to treatment (Genotype‐Driven Expression, GDE).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gene expression response under thermal stress in two Hawaiian corals is dominated by ploidy and genotype

Chille,

Stephens,

Misri

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Transcriptome data are frequently used to investigate coral bleaching; however, the factors controlling gene expression in natural populations of these species are poorly understood. We studied two corals, Montipora capitata and Pocillopora acuta, that inhabit the sheltered Kāne'ohe Bay, Hawai'i. M. capitata colonies in the bay are outbreeding diploids, whereas P. acuta is a mixture of clonal diploids and triploids. Populations were sampled from six reefs and subjected to either control (no stress), thermal stress, pH stress, or combined pH and thermal stress treatments. RNA‐seq data were generated to test two competing hypotheses: (1) gene expression is largely independent of genotype, reflecting a shared treatment‐driven response (TDE) or, (2) genotype dominates gene expression, regardless of treatment (GDE). Our results strongly support the GDE model, even under severe stress. We suggest that post‐transcriptional processes (e.g., control of translation, protein turnover) modify the signal from the transcriptome, and may underlie the observed differences in coral bleaching sensitivity via the downstream proteome and metabolome.

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“…Recent studies, however, have shown that differential changes in gene expression, via physiological plasticity, between and within coral species (Rivera et al, 2021;Strader & Quigley, 2022) could contribute to emergent stress responses such as thermal tolerance (van Oppen & Oakeshott, 2020;Avila-Magaña et al, 2021) and resistance to ocean acidification (Yuan et al, 2019;Scucchia et al, 2021); with particular links between specific environmental stressors (nutrient/thermal) that could benefit or synergistically affect heat-stressed corals at the cellular level (Rodríguez-Casariego et al, 2020;Montalbetti et al, 2021;Thummasan et al, 2021) resulting in tolerant and susceptible populations that show distinct transcriptional resilience and acclimation potential (Savary et al, 2021;Drury et al, 2022). The latter highlights the ability of qPCR-based gene expression biomarkers to elucidate gene expression plasticity (Poli et al, 2017) and their potential as molecular tools to assess and predict coral reef health and function under climate change scenarios (Hook et al, 2014;Palumbi et al, 2014;Zoccola et al, 2016), with further applications on coral reef restoration and conservation as an aid in determining what readily quantifiable phenotypes are most indicative of resilience (Parkinson et al, 2020;Kenkel & Wright, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two biomarkers of gene expression plasticity in Pocillopora corals from the Carrizales reef, Mexican Tropical Pacific

Carpizo Ituarte

2023

Hidrobiológica

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Background. Gene expression (GE) plasticity is an acclimation response that allows organisms to adjust rapidly to environmental changes, providing an adaptive advantage. GE biomarkers are emerging as a valuable tool for linking the organism's physiological plasticity with the synergetic effects of large-scale climatic conditions and local impacts such as temperature and nutrients. Objectives. In this study, we investigate the GE plasticity of the 70-kDa heat shock protein (hsp70) and the carbonic anhydrase enzyme (CA) to confirm the ability of those two genes as biomarkers of the Cellular Stress Response and Cellular Homeostasis Response, respectively. Methods. Using qPCR, we evaluate the GE plasticity of coral colonies from Pocillopora capitata, Pocillopora damicornis, and Pocillopora verrucosa at the Carrizales reef (Colima coast of Mexico) naturally exposed to environmental changes in the Sea Surface Temperature (SST), productivity and nutrients using the cellular density of Symbiodiniaceae and chlorophyll content as health indices. Results. Our results clearly show GE plasticity in the hsp70 for Pocillopora verrucosa and Pocillopora damicornis related to a daily environmental change in temperature and nutrients. On the other hand, the CA gene expression shows no change in response to daily variations. However, there was a significantly high expression of CA and a lower expression of hsp70 in Pocillopora capitata. Furthermore, we found no significant differences in the health indices, suggesting some degree of physiological plasticity in Pocillopora corals like its extensive morphological plasticity that could reflect different adaptation capacities to low temperatures and high nutrients during the spring season in the central Mexican Pacific. Conclusions. Evaluating the phenotypic plasticity (morphology and molecular physiology) could help identify coral colonies with a more significant potential to survive environmental stressors. The latter is an essential consideration for managing, conserving, and restoring coral reefs in the Mexican Pacific.

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Can Gene Expression Studies Inform Coral Reef Conservation and Restoration?

Cited by 3 publications

References 136 publications

Synergistic response to climate stressors in coral is associated with genotypic variation in baseline expression

Synergistic response to climate stressors in coral is associated with genotypic variation in baseline expression

Gene expression response under thermal stress in two Hawaiian corals is dominated by ploidy and genotype

Two biomarkers of gene expression plasticity in Pocillopora corals from the Carrizales reef, Mexican Tropical Pacific

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