Data from: The adaptive potential of subtropical rainbowfish in the face of climate change: heritability and heritable plasticity for the expression of candidate genes

Whilst adaptation and phenotypic plasticity might buffer species against
habitat degradation associated with global climate change, few studies
making such claims also possess the necessary and sufficient data to
support them. Doing so requires demonstration of heritable variation in
traits affecting fitness under new environmental conditions. We address
this issue using an emerging aquatic system to study adaptation to climate
change, the crimson-spotted rainbowfish (Melanotaenia duboulayi), a
freshwater species from a region of eastern Australia projected to be
affected by marked temperature increases. Captive born M. duboulayi of
known pedigree were used to assess the long-term effects of contemporary
and 2070-projected summer temperatures on the expression of genes
previously identified in a climate change transcriptomics (RNA-Seq)
experiment. Nearly all genes responded to increasing temperature.
Significant additive genetic variance explained a moderate proportion of
transcriptional variation for all genes. Most genes also showed
broad-sense genetic variation in transcriptional plasticity. Additionally,
molecular pathways of candidate genes co-occur with genes inferred to be
under climate-mediated selection in wild M. duboulayi populations.
Together, these results indicate the presence of existing variation in
important physiological traits, and the potential for adaptive responses
to a changing thermal environment.