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Rapid adaptive responses to climate change in corals

Nature Climate Change volume 7, pages 627–636 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

Pivotal to projecting the fate of coral reefs is the capacity of reef-building corals to acclimatize and adapt to climate change. Transgenerational plasticity may enable some marine organisms to acclimatize over several generations and it has been hypothesized that epigenetic processes and microbial associations might facilitate adaptive responses. However, current evidence is equivocal and understanding of the underlying processes is limited. Here, we discuss prospects for observing transgenerational plasticity in corals and the mechanisms that could enable adaptive plasticity in the coral holobiont, including the potential role of epigenetics and coral-associated microbes. Well-designed and strictly controlled experiments are needed to distinguish transgenerational plasticity from other forms of plasticity, and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and their relative importance compared with genetic adaptation.

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Figure 1: Identifying TGP in offspring depending on generational overlap in exposure.
Figure 2: Potential pathways that may enable TGP in corals include somatic, genetic and epigenetic factors of the coral gametes as well as their associated microbes transmitted vertically from one generation to the next.
Figure 3: Illustration showing members of the coral holobiont and their potential for contribution to adaptive holobiont responses.

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Acknowledgements

We dedicate this paper to our close friend and colleague, Dr. Sylvain Foret, a leader in coral genomics and invertebrate epigenetics who passed away unexpectedly days before this paper was submitted. The workshop where this paper was conceived was organized and funded by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies with additional support from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) (M.A., M.L.B., T.R. and C.R.V.) and the KAUST Office of Competitive Research Funds award OCRF-2016-CRG4-25410101 (T.R. and M.L.B.). The authors would like to thank Xavier Pita for his help with Figs 1, 2, 3, Heno Hwang for his help with the figure in Box 1, and Hillary Smith for her help with Figs 2 and 3.

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Author notes

  1. Sylvain Foret: Deceased

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, 4811, Queensland, Australia

    Gergely Torda, Jennifer M. Donelson, Line Bay, Sylvain Foret, David J. Miller, Aurelie Moya, Madeleine J. H. van Oppen, Sue-Ann Watson, Bette L. Willis & Philip L. Munday

  2. Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville, 4810, Queensland, Australia

    Gergely Torda, Line Bay, David G. Bourne, Neal Cantin & Madeleine J. H. van Oppen

  3. Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division (BESE), Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia

    Manuel Aranda, Michael L. Berumen & Christian R. Voolstra

  4. Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, 23529, Viginia, USA

    Daniel J. Barshis

  5. College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, 4811, Queensland, Australia

    David G. Bourne & Bette L. Willis

  6. Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, 2601, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Sylvain Foret

  7. Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas, Austin, 78712, Texas, USA

    Mikhail Matz

  8. Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, 4811, Queensland, Australia

    David J. Miller

  9. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, 02881, Rhode Island, USA

    Hollie M. Putnam

  10. Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, KAUST Environmental Epigenetic Program, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia

    Timothy Ravasi

  11. School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010, Victoria, Australia

    Madeleine J. H. van Oppen

  12. Oregon State University, 454 Nash Hall, Corvallis, 97330, Oregon, USA

    Rebecca Vega Thurber

  13. IFREMER, UMR 241 EIO, LabexCorail, BP 7004, Taravao, 98719, Tahiti, French Polynesia

    Jeremie Vidal-Dupiol

  14. IFREMER, IHPE UMR 5244, University Perpignan Via Domitia, CNRS, University Montpellier, Montpellier, F-34095, France

    Jeremie Vidal-Dupiol

  15. Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, Melbourne, 3000, Victoria, Australia

    Emma Whitelaw

Authors
  1. Gergely Torda
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  2. Jennifer M. Donelson
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  3. Manuel Aranda
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  4. Daniel J. Barshis
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  5. Line Bay
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  6. Michael L. Berumen
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  7. David G. Bourne
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  8. Neal Cantin
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  9. Sylvain Foret
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  10. Mikhail Matz
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  11. David J. Miller
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  12. Aurelie Moya
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  13. Hollie M. Putnam
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  14. Timothy Ravasi
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  15. Madeleine J. H. van Oppen
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  16. Rebecca Vega Thurber
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  17. Jeremie Vidal-Dupiol
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  18. Christian R. Voolstra
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  19. Sue-Ann Watson
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  20. Emma Whitelaw
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  21. Bette L. Willis
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  22. Philip L. Munday
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Contributions

This paper is the result of a workshop organized by G.T., P.L.M., B.L.W. and J.M.D. All co-authors contributed to discussions. G.T. wrote the first draft of the manuscript with input from J.M.D., B.L.W. and P.L.M. All co-authors contributed to subsequent drafts. Figures conceived and designed by: Fig. 1, J.M.D; Fig. 2, H.P.; Fig. 3, L.B., D.G.B., R.V.T., C.R.V., S.-A.W. and B.L.W. Box 1 was written by M.V.M., Box 2 by P.L.M. The figure in Box 1 was conceived and designed by M.V.M.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gergely Torda.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Torda, G., Donelson, J., Aranda, M. et al. Rapid adaptive responses to climate change in corals. Nature Clim Change 7, 627–636 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3374

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3374

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