Data from: Differences in the regulation of growth and biomineralization genes revealed through long-term common garden acclimation and experimental genomics in the purple sea urchin

Across heterogeneous landscapes, populations may have adaptive differences
in gene regulation that adjust their physiologies to match local
environments. Such differences could have origins in acclimation or in
genetically fixed variation between habitats. Here we use common garden
experiments to evaluate differences in gene expression between populations
of the purple sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, spanning 1700 km
and average temperature differences of 5 °C to 8 °C. Across expression
profiles from 18,883 genes after three years of common conditions, we find
highly correlated expression patterns (Pearson’s r = 0.992) among most
genes. However, sixty-six genes were differentially expressed, including
many ribosomal protein and biomineralization genes, all of which had
higher expression in urchins originally from the southern population. Gene
function analyses revealed slight but pervasive expression differences in
genes related to ribosomal function, metabolism, transport, “bone”
development, and response to stimuli. In accord with gene expression
patterns, a post-hoc spine re-growth experiment revealed that urchins of
southern origin re-grew spines at a faster rate than northern urchins.
These results suggest that there may be genetically controlled,
potentially adaptive differences in gene regulation across habitats and
that gene expression differences may be under strong enough selection to
overcome high dispersal-mediated gene flow in this marine species.