Enhanced gene expression plasticity as a mechanism of adaptation to a variable environment in a reef-building coral

Abstract

Local adaptation is ubiquitous1, but the molecular mechanisms giving rise to this ecological phenomenon remain largely unknown2. A year-long reciprocal transplant of mustard hill coral (Porites astreoides) between a highly environmentally variable inshore habitat and more stable offshore habitat3 demonstrated that both inshore and offshore populations exhibit elevated growth, protein and lipid content in their home reef environment, indicative of local adaptation 4 Here, we characterized the genomic basis of this adaptation in both coral hosts and their intracellular algal symbionts (Symbiodinium sp.) using genome-wide gene expression profiling5,6 and gene coexpression network analysis7. Inshore and offshore coral populations differ primarily in their capacity for gene expression pla ...