The promotion of stress tolerant Symbiodiniaceae dominance in juveniles of two coral species under simulated future conditions of ocean warming and acidification

To determine the impacts of future climate projections on the establishment of symbionts in juvenile corals, ITS2 amplicon sequencing of single coral juveniles was applied to Goniastrea retiformis and Acropora millepora before and after exposure to three climate conditions of varying temperature and pCO2 levels (current and RCP8.5 in 2050 and 2100).varying levels of temperature and pCO2: 2100 (+2°C offset, pCO2 940 ± 60ppm) 2050 (+1°C offset, pCO2 685 ± 60ppm) present day levels (28.5°C, pCO2 400 ± 60ppm)The dynamics of symbiont community changes (prevalence, relative abundance, and diversity) were assessed under exposure to these multiple climate treatments. G. retiformis was further assessed over time (0, 10 days and 4 weeks) and A. millepora further assessed at the final timepoint.DNA extraction and sequencing - Genomic DNA was extracted from G. retiformis and A. millepora samples across three sampling times (T0, T1 and T2), and treatments (ambient, 2050, 2100) with a total of 135 individual juvenile samples were successfully sequenced (27 samples belonged to A. millepora, and 110 belonged to G. retiformis ).