The Algal Symbiont Modifies the Transcriptome of the Scleractinian Coral Euphyllia paradivisa During Heat Stress.

ABSTRACT: The profound mutualistic symbiosis between corals and their endosymbiotic counterparts, Symbiodiniaceae algae, has been threatened by the increase in seawater temperatures, leading to breakdown of the symbiotic relationship-coral bleaching. To characterize the heat-stress response of the holobiont, we generated vital apo-symbiotic Euphylliaparadivisa corals that lacked the endosymbiotic algae. Using RNA sequencing, we analyzed the gene expression of these apo-symbionts vs. symbiotic ones, to test the effect of the algal presence on the tolerance of the coral. We utilized literature-derived lists of "symbiosis differentially expressed genes" and "coral heat-stress genes" in order to compare between the treatments. The symbiotic and apo-symbiotic samples were segregated into tw

SUBMITTER: Meron D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6723837 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature