Data from: Gene expression plasticity as a mechanism of coral adaptation to a variable environment

Local adaptation is ubiquitous, but the molecular mechanisms that give
rise to this ecological phenomenon remain largely unknown. A year-long
reciprocal transplant of mustard hill coral (Porites astreoides) between a
highly environmentally variable inshore habitat and a more stable offshore
habitat demonstrated that populations exhibit phenotypic signatures that
are consistent with local adaptation. We characterized the genomic basis
of this adaptation in both coral hosts and their intracellular symbionts
(Symbiodinium sp.) using genome-wide gene expression profiling.
Populations differed primarily in their capacity for plasticity: following
transplantation to a novel environment, inshore-origin coral expression
profiles became significantly more similar to the local population's
profiles than those in offshore-origin corals. Furthermore, elevated
plasticity of the environmental stress response expression was correlated
with lower susceptibility to a natural summer bleaching event, suggesting
that plasticity is adaptive in the inshore environment. Our results reveal
a novel genomic mechanism of resilience to a variable environment,
demonstrating that corals are capable of a more diverse molecular response
to stress than previously thought.