Zostera marina Transcriptome or Gene expression

Here, we ask generally whether Z. marina shows adaptive differentiation in gene expression between thermally contrasting environments that were replicated on the American and European coast. More specifically, we asked two questions:1. Is there evidence for adaptation to temperature, as judged by heritable transcriptomic differentiation that exceeds neutral phylogenetic differentiation between the two Southern and the two Northern populations?2. Do Southern populations as compared with their Northern neighbors in both the European and the American thermal clines show gene expression patterns that suggest reduced sensitivity to heat waves: expression of heat-responsive genes at constitutively high levels and faster recovery from heat?Identifying and understanding geographic variation in sensitivity to increasing heat stress can help to more realistically predict climate change induced range shifts of Z. marina and to identify thermally robust source populations for potential restoration.