Data from: Transcriptomics reveal transgenerational effects in purple sea urchins exposed to upwelling conditions, and the response of their progeny to differential pCO2 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，是海洋科学领域的重要研究方向，尤其结合近期对未来数十年海洋变化速率的预测而言。跨代效应（Transgenerational effects）指亲代的经历可塑造子代的表型，或可作为此类响应机制。本研究以成年紫海胆（Strongylocentrotus purpuratus）为实验对象，将其驯化至与加州洋流系统沿岸上升流区域典型环境匹配的区域及生态相关的pCO₂分压与温度条件：其中上升流组为低温、高pCO₂环境，非上升流组为平均温度、低pCO₂环境。经过4.5个月的驯化处理后，对成年海胆进行人工催产，随后将子代分别置于高、低pCO₂环境下培育，以探究母体效应的作用。本研究通过RNA测序（RNA-seq）与比较转录组学分析发现，成年海胆的差异化驯化处理，会对子代早期发育至原肠胚阶段的基因表达模式产生影响。举例而言，当子代在高pCO₂环境中培育时，经历上升流条件驯化的母本所产后代的转录组响应会被强化，相较于低pCO₂环境培育的子代更为显著。此外，经历上升流环境驯化的母本所产的子代个体更大。本研究的整体结论虽较为复杂，但确实表明，跨代可塑性（transgenerational plasticity）或可作为种群跟上快速环境变化步伐的重要机制之一。