Phenotypic plasticity for improved light harvesting, in tandem with methylome repatterning in reef-building corals

Acclimatization through phenotypic plasticity represents a more rapid response to environmental change than adaptation and is vital to optimize organisms’ performance in different conditions. Generally, animals are less phenotypically plastic than plants, but reef-building corals exhibit plant-like properties. They are light-dependent with a sessile and moddular construction that facilitates rapid morphological changes within their lifetime. We induced phenotypic changes by altering light exposure in a reciprocal transplant experiment and found that coral plasticity is a colony trait emerging from comprehensive morphological and physiological changes within the colony. Plasticity in skeletal features optimized coral light harvesting and utilization and paralleled with significant methylome and transcriptome modifications. Network-associated responses resulted in the identification of hub genes and clusters associated to the change in phenotype: inter-partner recognition and phagocytosis, soft tissue growth and biomineralization. Furthermore, we identified hub genes putatively involved in animal photoreception-phototransduction. These findings fundamentally advance our understanding of how reef-building corals repattern the methylome and adjust a phenotype, revealing an important role of light sensing by the coral animal to optimize photosynthetic performance of the symbionts. This SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below. Refer to individual Series

通过表型可塑性（phenotypic plasticity）介导的驯化适应，相较于遗传适应，能更快速地响应环境变化，对于优化生物体在不同环境条件下的生存表现至关重要。通常而言，动物的表型可塑性弱于植物，但造礁珊瑚却展现出类似植物的特性：这类生物依赖光照，且拥有固着且模块化的躯体结构，使其可在生命周期内快速发生形态变化。本研究通过互易移植实验（reciprocal transplant experiment）改变光照条件以诱导表型变化，结果发现珊瑚的表型可塑性是由珊瑚群体内部全面的形态与生理变化共同催生的群体性状。骨骼特征的可塑性优化了珊瑚的光捕获与利用效率，同时伴随显著的甲基组（methylome）与转录组（transcriptome）修饰。通过网络关联响应分析，本研究鉴定出与表型变化相关的枢纽基因（hub genes）及基因聚类簇：涉及共生伙伴识别与吞噬作用、软组织生长及生物矿化（biomineralization）。此外，本研究还鉴定出疑似参与动物光感受-光转导（phototransduction）过程的枢纽基因。这些发现从根本上推进了我们对造礁珊瑚如何重塑甲基组并调控表型的认知，揭示了珊瑚动物的光感知在优化共生体光合效率中的重要作用。本超级数据集（SuperSeries）由以下列出的子数据集系列（SubSeries）构成，请参阅各独立数据集系列。