Chromatin Dynamics and Gene Expression Response to Heat Exposure in Field-Conditioned versus Laboratory-Cultured Nematostella vectensis

Abstract

Organisms’ survival is associated with the ability to respond to natural or anthropogenic environmental stressors. Frequently, these responses involve changes in gene regulation and expression, consequently altering physiology, development, or behavior. Here, we present modifications in response to heat exposure that mimics extreme summertime field conditions of lab-cultured and field-conditioned Nematostella vectensis. Using ATAC-seq and RNA-seq data, we found that field-conditioned animals had a more concentrated reaction to short-term thermal stress, expressed as enrichment of the DNA repair mechanism pathway. By contrast, lab animals had a more diffuse reaction that involved a larger number of differentially expressed genes and enriched pathways, including amino acid metabolism. Our results demonstrate that pre-conditioning affects the ability to respond efficiently to heat exposure in terms of both chromatin accessibility and gene expression and reinforces the importance of experimentally addressing ecological questions in the field.

Captivity induces a sweeping and sustained genomic response in a starfish

“…Genome‐wide transcriptome analysis using RNA sequencing (RNA‐Seq) is a highly sensitive approach that can provide near‐comprehensive quantification of changes in gene expression under different environmental conditions (Wang et al, 2009). Although RNA‐Seq has been widely applied to studying responses of diverse animals to specific environmental stressors (Gleason & Burton, 2015; Hui et al, 2014; Li et al, 2021; Li, Fang, et al, 2019; Lv et al, 2013; Ma et al, 2019; Meng et al, 2013; Milan et al, 2013; Oomen & Hutchings, 2017; Wang et al, 2018; Zhang et al, 2017), it has rarely been applied in the context of captivity (Alburaki et al, 2019; Roznere et al, 2021; Weizman et al, 2021).…”