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Stephens TG, Strand EL, Putnam HM, Bhattacharya D. Ploidy Variation and Its Implications for Reproduction and Population Dynamics in Two Sympatric Hawaiian Coral Species. Genome Biol Evol 2023; 15:evad149. [PMID: 37566739 PMCID: PMC10445776 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evad149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2023] [Revised: 06/24/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Standing genetic variation is a major driver of fitness and resilience and therefore of fundamental importance for threatened species such as stony corals. We analyzed RNA-seq data generated from 132 Montipora capitata and 119 Pocillopora acuta coral colonies collected from Kāne'ohe Bay, O'ahu, Hawai'i. Our goals were to determine the extent of colony genetic variation and to study reproductive strategies in these two sympatric species. Surprisingly, we found that 63% of the P. acuta colonies were triploid, with putative independent origins of the different triploid clades. These corals have spread primarily via asexual reproduction and are descended from a small number of genotypes, whose diploid ancestor invaded the bay. In contrast, all M. capitata colonies are diploid and outbreeding, with almost all colonies genetically distinct. Only two cases of asexual reproduction, likely via fragmentation, were identified in this species. We report two distinct strategies in sympatric coral species that inhabit the largest sheltered body of water in the main Hawaiian Islands. These data highlight divergence in reproductive behavior and genome biology, both of which contribute to coral resilience and persistence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy G Stephens
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
| | - Emma L Strand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Hollie M Putnam
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Debashish Bhattacharya
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
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Chille EE, Strand EL, Scucchia F, Neder M, Schmidt V, Sherman MO, Mass T, Putnam HM. Energetics, but not development, is impacted in coral embryos exposed to ocean acidification. J Exp Biol 2022; 225:277171. [PMID: 35938380 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
In light of the chronic stress and mass mortality reef-building corals face under climate change, it is critical to understand the processes driving reef persistence and replenishment, including coral reproduction and development. Here we quantify gene expression and sensitivity to ocean acidification across a set of developmental stages in the rice coral, Montipora capitata. Embryos and swimming larvae were exposed to pH treatments 7.8 (Ambient), 7.6 (Low) and 7.3 (Xlow) from fertilization to 9 days post-fertilization. Embryo and larval volume, and stage-specific gene expression were compared between treatments to determine the effects of acidified seawater on early development. While there was no measurable size differentiation between pH treatments at the fertilized egg and prawn chip (9 hours post-fertilization) stages, early gastrulae and larvae raised in reduced pH treatments were significantly smaller than those raised in ambient seawater, suggesting an energetic cost to developing under low pH. However, no differentially expressed genes were found until the swimming larval stage. Notably, gene expression patterns of larvae developing at pH 7.8 and pH 7.3 were more similar than those developing at pH 7.6. Larvae from pH 7.6 showed upregulation of genes involved in cell division, regulation of transcription, lipid metabolism, and response to oxidative stress in comparison to the other two treatments. While low pH appears to increase energetic demands and trigger oxidative stress in larvae, the developmental process is robust to this at a molecular level, with the swimming larval stage reached in all pH treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- E E Chille
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island, USA
| | - E L Strand
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island, USA
| | - F Scucchia
- Department of Marine Biology, The Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.,The Interuniversity Institute of Marine Sciences, Eilat, Israel
| | - M Neder
- Department of Marine Biology, The Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.,The Interuniversity Institute of Marine Sciences, Eilat, Israel
| | - V Schmidt
- Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, Connecticut, USA
| | - M O Sherman
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island, USA
| | - T Mass
- Department of Marine Biology, The Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.,Morris Kahn Marine Research Station, The Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, Sdot Yam, Israel
| | - H M Putnam
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island, USA
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Gleason LU, Strand EL, Hizon BJ, Dowd WW. Plasticity of thermal tolerance and its relationship with growth rate in juvenile mussels ( Mytilus californianus). Proc Biol Sci 2019; 285:rspb.2017.2617. [PMID: 29669896 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.2617] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2017] [Accepted: 03/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Complex life cycles characterized by uncertainty at transitions between larval/juvenile and adult environments could favour irreversible physiological plasticity at such transitions. To assess whether thermal tolerance of intertidal mussels (Mytilus californianus) adjusts to post-settlement environmental conditions, we collected juveniles from their thermally buffered microhabitat from high- and low-shore locations at cool (wave-exposed) and warm (wave-protected) sites. Juveniles were transplanted to unsheltered cages at the two low sites or placed in a common garden. Juveniles transplanted to the warm site for one month in summer had higher thermal tolerance, regardless of origin site. By contrast, common-garden juveniles from all sites had lower tolerance indistinguishable from exposed site transplants. After six months in the field plus a common garden period, there was a trend for higher thermal tolerance at the protected site, while reduced thermal tolerance at both sites indicated seasonal acclimatization. Thermal tolerance and growth rate were inversely related after one but not six months; protected-site transplants were more tolerant but grew more slowly. In contrast to juveniles, adults from low-shore exposed and protected sites retained differences in thermal tolerance after common garden treatment in summer. Both irreversible and reversible forms of plasticity must be considered in organismal responses to changing environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lani U Gleason
- Department of Biology, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA .,Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Sacramento, 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819, USA
| | - Emma L Strand
- Department of Biology, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA
| | - Brian J Hizon
- Department of Biology, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA
| | - W Wesley Dowd
- Department of Biology, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA.,School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, PO Box 644236, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
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