Rapid adaptive responses to climate change in corals

Gergely Torda; Jennifer M. Donelson; Manuel Aranda; Daniel J. Barshis; Line Bay; Michael L. Berumen; David G. Bourne; Neal Cantin; Sylvain Foret; Mikhail Matz; David J. Miller; Aurelie Moya; Hollie M. Putnam; Timothy Ravasi; Madeleine J. H. van Oppen; Rebecca Vega Thurber; Jeremie Vidal-Dupiol; Christian R. Voolstra; Sue-Ann Watson; Emma Whitelaw; Bette L. Willis; Philip L. Munday

doi:10.1038/NCLIMATE3374

Rapid adaptive responses to climate change in corals

Gergely Torda, Jennifer M. Donelson, Manuel Aranda, Daniel J. Barshis, Line Bay, Michael L. Berumen, David G. Bourne, Neal Cantin, Sylvain Foret, Mikhail Matz, David J. Miller, Aurelie Moya, Hollie M. Putnam, Timothy Ravasi, Madeleine J. H. van Oppen, Rebecca Vega Thurber, Jeremie Vidal-Dupiol, Christian R. Voolstra, Sue-Ann Watson, Emma WhitelawBette L. Willis, Philip L. Munday

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

293 Scopus citations

Abstract

Pivotal to projecting the fate of coral reefs is the capacity of reef-building corals to acclimatize and adapt to climate change. Transgenerational plasticity may enable some marine organisms to acclimatize over several generations and it has been hypothesized that epigenetic processes and microbial associations might facilitate adaptive responses. However, current evidence is equivocal and understanding of the underlying processes is limited. Here, we discuss prospects for observing transgenerational plasticity in corals and the mechanisms that could enable adaptive plasticity in the coral holobiont, including the potential role of epigenetics and coral-associated microbes. Well-designed and strictly controlled experiments are needed to distinguish transgenerational plasticity from other forms of plasticity, and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and their relative importance compared with genetic adaptation.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	627-636
Number of pages	10
Journal	Nature Climate Change
Volume	7
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/NCLIMATE3374
State	Published - Sep 1 2017

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledgements: We dedicate this paper to our close friend and colleague, Dr. Sylvain Foret, a leader in coral genomics and invertebrate epigenetics who passed away unexpectedly days before this paper was submitted. The workshop where this paper was conceived was organized and funded by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies with additional support from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) (M.A., M.L.B., T.R. and C.R.V.) and the KAUST Office of Competitive Research Funds award OCRF-2016-CRG4-25410101 (T.R. and M.L.B.). The authors would like to thank Xavier Pita for his help with Figs 1-3, Heno Hwang for his help with the figure in Box 1, and Hillary Smith for her help with Figs 2 and 3.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1038/NCLIMATE3374

Cite this

Torda, G., Donelson, J. M., Aranda, M., Barshis, D. J., Bay, L., Berumen, M. L., Bourne, D. G., Cantin, N., Foret, S., Matz, M., Miller, D. J., Moya, A., Putnam, H. M., Ravasi, T., van Oppen, M. J. H., Thurber, R. V., Vidal-Dupiol, J., Voolstra, C. R., Watson, S.-A., ... Munday, P. L. (2017). Rapid adaptive responses to climate change in corals. Nature Climate Change, 7(9), 627-636. https://doi.org/10.1038/NCLIMATE3374

@article{b2a52f5435bc469c86dd2a5e0b561936,

title = "Rapid adaptive responses to climate change in corals",

abstract = "Pivotal to projecting the fate of coral reefs is the capacity of reef-building corals to acclimatize and adapt to climate change. Transgenerational plasticity may enable some marine organisms to acclimatize over several generations and it has been hypothesized that epigenetic processes and microbial associations might facilitate adaptive responses. However, current evidence is equivocal and understanding of the underlying processes is limited. Here, we discuss prospects for observing transgenerational plasticity in corals and the mechanisms that could enable adaptive plasticity in the coral holobiont, including the potential role of epigenetics and coral-associated microbes. Well-designed and strictly controlled experiments are needed to distinguish transgenerational plasticity from other forms of plasticity, and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and their relative importance compared with genetic adaptation.",

author = "Gergely Torda and Donelson, {Jennifer M.} and Manuel Aranda and Barshis, {Daniel J.} and Line Bay and Berumen, {Michael L.} and Bourne, {David G.} and Neal Cantin and Sylvain Foret and Mikhail Matz and Miller, {David J.} and Aurelie Moya and Putnam, {Hollie M.} and Timothy Ravasi and {van Oppen}, {Madeleine J. H.} and Thurber, {Rebecca Vega} and Jeremie Vidal-Dupiol and Voolstra, {Christian R.} and Sue-Ann Watson and Emma Whitelaw and Willis, {Bette L.} and Munday, {Philip L.}",

note = "KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01 Acknowledgements: We dedicate this paper to our close friend and colleague, Dr. Sylvain Foret, a leader in coral genomics and invertebrate epigenetics who passed away unexpectedly days before this paper was submitted. The workshop where this paper was conceived was organized and funded by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies with additional support from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) (M.A., M.L.B., T.R. and C.R.V.) and the KAUST Office of Competitive Research Funds award OCRF-2016-CRG4-25410101 (T.R. and M.L.B.). The authors would like to thank Xavier Pita for his help with Figs 1-3, Heno Hwang for his help with the figure in Box 1, and Hillary Smith for her help with Figs 2 and 3.",

year = "2017",

month = sep,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1038/NCLIMATE3374",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "7",

pages = "627--636",

journal = "Nature Climate Change",

issn = "1758-678X",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

number = "9",

}

Torda, G, Donelson, JM, Aranda, M, Barshis, DJ, Bay, L, Berumen, ML, Bourne, DG, Cantin, N, Foret, S, Matz, M, Miller, DJ, Moya, A, Putnam, HM, Ravasi, T, van Oppen, MJH, Thurber, RV, Vidal-Dupiol, J, Voolstra, CR, Watson, S-A, Whitelaw, E, Willis, BL & Munday, PL 2017, 'Rapid adaptive responses to climate change in corals', Nature Climate Change, vol. 7, no. 9, pp. 627-636. https://doi.org/10.1038/NCLIMATE3374

TY - JOUR

T1 - Rapid adaptive responses to climate change in corals

AU - Torda, Gergely

AU - Donelson, Jennifer M.

AU - Aranda, Manuel

AU - Barshis, Daniel J.

AU - Bay, Line

AU - Berumen, Michael L.

AU - Bourne, David G.

AU - Cantin, Neal

AU - Foret, Sylvain

AU - Matz, Mikhail

AU - Miller, David J.

AU - Moya, Aurelie

AU - Putnam, Hollie M.

AU - Ravasi, Timothy

AU - van Oppen, Madeleine J. H.

AU - Thurber, Rebecca Vega

AU - Vidal-Dupiol, Jeremie

AU - Voolstra, Christian R.

AU - Watson, Sue-Ann

AU - Whitelaw, Emma

AU - Willis, Bette L.

AU - Munday, Philip L.

N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01 Acknowledgements: We dedicate this paper to our close friend and colleague, Dr. Sylvain Foret, a leader in coral genomics and invertebrate epigenetics who passed away unexpectedly days before this paper was submitted. The workshop where this paper was conceived was organized and funded by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies with additional support from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) (M.A., M.L.B., T.R. and C.R.V.) and the KAUST Office of Competitive Research Funds award OCRF-2016-CRG4-25410101 (T.R. and M.L.B.). The authors would like to thank Xavier Pita for his help with Figs 1-3, Heno Hwang for his help with the figure in Box 1, and Hillary Smith for her help with Figs 2 and 3.

PY - 2017/9/1

Y1 - 2017/9/1

N2 - Pivotal to projecting the fate of coral reefs is the capacity of reef-building corals to acclimatize and adapt to climate change. Transgenerational plasticity may enable some marine organisms to acclimatize over several generations and it has been hypothesized that epigenetic processes and microbial associations might facilitate adaptive responses. However, current evidence is equivocal and understanding of the underlying processes is limited. Here, we discuss prospects for observing transgenerational plasticity in corals and the mechanisms that could enable adaptive plasticity in the coral holobiont, including the potential role of epigenetics and coral-associated microbes. Well-designed and strictly controlled experiments are needed to distinguish transgenerational plasticity from other forms of plasticity, and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and their relative importance compared with genetic adaptation.

AB - Pivotal to projecting the fate of coral reefs is the capacity of reef-building corals to acclimatize and adapt to climate change. Transgenerational plasticity may enable some marine organisms to acclimatize over several generations and it has been hypothesized that epigenetic processes and microbial associations might facilitate adaptive responses. However, current evidence is equivocal and understanding of the underlying processes is limited. Here, we discuss prospects for observing transgenerational plasticity in corals and the mechanisms that could enable adaptive plasticity in the coral holobiont, including the potential role of epigenetics and coral-associated microbes. Well-designed and strictly controlled experiments are needed to distinguish transgenerational plasticity from other forms of plasticity, and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and their relative importance compared with genetic adaptation.

UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/625755

UR - http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v7/n9/full/nclimate3374.html

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85028631014&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/NCLIMATE3374

DO - 10.1038/NCLIMATE3374

M3 - Article

SN - 1758-678X

VL - 7

SP - 627

EP - 636

JO - Nature Climate Change

JF - Nature Climate Change

IS - 9

ER -

Rapid adaptive responses to climate change in corals

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this