Integrative analysis of coral plasticity and adaptations reveals key proteins driving resilience to changes in ocean carbonate chemistry.

ABSTRACT: Understanding how corals adapt to changes in seawater carbonate chemistry is crucial for developing effective coral conservation strategies. Research to date has mostly focused on short-term experiments, overlooking long-term evolutionary effects. Here, we investigated the link between short-term stress responses and long-term genetic adaptations in the coral species Porites pukoensis through experiments under varying CO₂ and alkalinity conditions. Our results showed that alkalinity enrichment significantly increased coral calcification rates by 35%-45% compared to high CO₂ treatment, highlighting the potential of alkalinity enrichment to mitigate acidification impacts. Corals modulated relative expression levels of basic and acidic proteins in response to chan

SUBMITTER: Yuan X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12662967 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature