Gene expression of Pocillopora damicornis collected from reef of Heron Island, southern Great Barrier Reef from Jan 2021 to Feb 2021

Corals residing in habitats that experience frequent seawater pCO2 variability may possess an enhanced capacity to cope with ocean acidification. Yet, we lack a clear understanding of the molecular toolkit enabling acclimatization to environmental extremes, and how life-long exposure to pCO2 variability influences biomineralization.

We examined the gene expression responses and micro-skeletal characteristics of Pocillopora damicornis originating from the reef flat and reef slope of Heron Island, southern Great Barrier Reef. The reef flat (454 ± 3.0) and reef slope (418 ± 1.9) had similar mean seawater pCO2 (µatm; mean ± SE), but the reef flat experienced twice the mean daily pCO2 amplitude (range of 797v. 399 µatm day-1, respectively). A controlled mesocosm experiment was conducted over eight weeks, from mid-January to late-March 2021, exposing P. damicornis from the reef slope and reef flat to stable (218±9) or variable (911±31) diel pCO2 fluctuations (µatm; mean ± SE). This dataset includes the gene expression data for these samples.

栖息于频繁经历海水二氧化碳分压（pCO₂）波动生境中的珊瑚，或许具备更强的海洋酸化耐受能力。然而，目前学界对其调控极端环境适应的分子工具库，以及终身暴露于pCO₂波动如何影响生物矿化过程，仍缺乏清晰认知。
本研究针对取自大堡礁南部赫伦岛礁坪与礁坡的指形鹿角珊瑚（*Pocillopora damicornis*），分析了其基因表达响应与微骨骼特征。礁坪与礁坡的海水平均pCO₂水平相近（分别为454±3.0 µatm与418±1.9 µatm，平均值±标准误），但礁坪的日均pCO₂波动幅度为礁坡的两倍（波动范围分别为797与399 µatm·d⁻¹）。2021年1月中旬至3月下旬，研究团队开展了为期8周的受控中型生态箱实验，将取自礁坡与礁坪的指形鹿角珊瑚分别暴露于稳定（218±9 µatm）或波动（911±31 µatm）的日周期pCO₂波动条件下（数值以平均值±标准误表示）。本数据集包含上述样本的基因表达数据。