Expression plasticity regulates intraspecific variation in the acclimatization potential of a reef-building coral

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 4790 - 9
• Main Authors: Drury, Crawford, Dilworth, Jenna, Majerová, Eva, Caruso, Carlo, Greer, Justin B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 15-08-2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 45/91; 631/158/2165; 631/158/2446/837; 631/208/199; Acclimatization; Acclimatization - genetics; Animals; Anthozoa - genetics; Climate Change; Coral Reefs; Corals; Divergence; Environmental changes; Exposure; Gene expression; Genotypes; Hardening; Heat tolerance; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Phenotypic plasticity; Plastic properties; Plasticity; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Symbionts; Symbiosis - genetics; Temperature tolerance; Thermal stress; Thermotolerance - genetics; Variation
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32452-4

Phenotypic plasticity is an important ecological and evolutionary response for organisms experiencing environmental change, but the ubiquity of this capacity within coral species and across symbiont communities is unknown. We exposed ten genotypes of the reef-building coral
Montipora capitata
with divergent symbiont communities to four thermal pre-exposure profiles and quantified gene expression before stress testing 4 months later. Here we show two pre-exposure profiles significantly enhance thermal tolerance despite broadly different expression patterns and substantial variation in acclimatization potential based on coral genotype. There was no relationship between a genotype’s basal thermal sensitivity and ability to acquire heat tolerance, including in corals harboring naturally tolerant symbionts, which illustrates the potential for additive improvements in coral response to climate change. These results represent durable improvements from short-term stress hardening of reef-building corals and substantial cryptic complexity in the capacity for plasticity.
Phenotypic plasticity is an important response for organisms experiencing climate change. Here, Drury et al. show that stress-hardening can produce durable improvements in coral thermal tolerance, masking substantial variation between individuals.