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Phenotypic plasticity for improved light harvesting, in tandem with methylome repatterning in reef-building corals.

ABSTRACT: Acclimatization through phenotypic plasticity represents a more rapid response to environmental change than adaptation and is vital to optimize organisms' performance in different conditions. Generally, animals are less phenotypically plastic than plants, but reef-building corals exhibit plant-like properties. They are light dependent with a sessile and modular construction that facilitates rapid morphological changes within their lifetime. We induced phenotypic changes by altering light exposure in a reciprocal transplant experiment and found that coral plasticity is a colony trait emerging from comprehensive morphological and physiological changes within the colony. Plasticity in skeletal features optimized coral light harvesting and utilization and paralleled significant methylome and transcriptome modifications. Network-associated responses resulted in the identification of hub genes and clusters associated to the change in phenotype: inter-partner recognition and phagocytosis, soft tissue growth and biomineralization. Furthermore, we identified hub genes putatively involved in animal photoreception-phototransduction. These findings fundamentally advance our understanding of how reef-building corals repattern the methylome and adjust a phenotype, revealing an important role of light sensing by the coral animal to optimize photosynthetic performance of the symbionts.

SUBMITTER: Gomez-Campo K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10922902 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Phenotypic plasticity for improved light harvesting, in tandem with methylome repatterning in reef-building corals.

Gomez-Campo Kelly K   Sanchez Robersy R   Martinez-Rugerio Isabel I   Yang Xiaodong X   Maher Tom T   Osborne C Cornelia CC   Enriquez Susana S   Baums Iliana B IB   Mackenzie Sally A SA   Iglesias-Prieto Roberto R  

Molecular ecology 20231228 4

Acclimatization through phenotypic plasticity represents a more rapid response to environmental change than adaptation and is vital to optimize organisms' performance in different conditions. Generally, animals are less phenotypically plastic than plants, but reef-building corals exhibit plant-like properties. They are light dependent with a sessile and modular construction that facilitates rapid morphological changes within their lifetime. We induced phenotypic changes by altering light exposur  ...[more]