Data from: Transcriptomics reveal transgenerational effects in purple sea urchin embryos: adult acclimation to upwelling conditions alters the response of their progeny to differential *p*CO2 levels

Understanding the mechanisms with which organisms can respond to a rapidly changing ocean is an important research priority in marine sciences, especially in light of recent predictions regarding the pace of ocean change in the coming decades. Transgenerational effects, in which the experience of the parental generation can shape the phenotype of their offspring, may serve as such a mechanism. In this study, adult purple sea urchins, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, were conditioned to regionally and ecologically relevant pCO2 levels and temperatures representative of upwelling (low temperature, high pCO2) and non-upwelling (average temperature, low pCO2) conditions typical of coastal upwelling regions in the California Current System. Following 4.5 months of conditioning, adults were spawned and offspring were raised under either high or low pCO2 levels, to examine the role of maternal effects. Using RNA-seq and comparative transcriptomics, our results indicate that differential conditioning of the adults had an effect on the gene expression patterns of the progeny during the gastrula stage of early development. For example, maternal conditioning under upwelling conditions intensified the transcriptomic response of the progeny when they were raised under high versus low pCO2 conditions. Additionally, mothers that experienced upwelling conditions produced larger progeny. The overall findings of this study are complex, but do suggest that transgenerational plasticity in situ could act as an important mechanism by which populations might keep pace with rapid environmental change.解析生物应对快速变化海洋的内在机制，是海洋科学领域的核心研究方向之一，尤其在近期有关未来数十年海洋变化速率的预测背景下，其重要性愈发凸显。跨代效应（Transgenerational effects）指亲代的经历可对子代的表型产生调控作用，或可成为生物应对海洋变化的潜在机制之一。本研究以紫海胆（*Strongylocentrotus purpuratus*）为实验材料，将成体个体分别驯化至与加利福尼亚洋流系统（California Current System）沿岸上升流区域典型环境匹配的生态相关二氧化碳分压（pCO₂）与温度条件：即上升流环境（低温、高pCO₂）与非上升流环境（常温、低pCO₂）。经过4.5个月的驯化处理后，对成体海胆进行催产，并将子代分别置于高、低pCO₂环境下培育，以探究母体效应的作用机制。本研究通过RNA测序（RNA-seq）与比较转录组学（comparative transcriptomics）分析，结果显示：成体海胆的差异化环境驯化，会对子代早期发育至原肠胚阶段的基因表达模式产生显著影响。例如，当子代在高pCO₂环境而非低pCO₂环境中培育时，经上升流环境驯化的母本所产生的子代，其转录组响应强度会显著增强。此外，经上升流环境驯化的母本所产生的子代个体尺寸更大。本研究的整体结论虽较为复杂，但确实表明：原位跨代可塑性可作为种群应对快速环境变化的重要机制之一，助力种群跟上环境变化的速率。