Genomic signatures in the coral holobiont reveal host adaptations driven by Holocene climate change and reef specific symbionts

Cooke, Ira;Ying, Hua;Forêt, Sylvain;Bongaerts, Pim;Strugnell, Jan M.;Simakov, Oleg;Zhang, Jia;Field, Matt A.;Rodriguez-Lanetty, Mauricio;Bell, Sara C.;Bourne, David G.;van Oppen, Madeleine J.H.;Ragan, Mark A.;Miller, David J.

Ira Cooke Jan Strugnell Matt Field David Miller

Abstract

Genetic signatures caused by demographic and adaptive processes during past climatic shifts can inform predictions of species’ responses to anthropogenic climate change. To identify these signatures in Acropora tenuis, a reef-building coral threatened by global warming, we first assembled the genome from long reads and then used shallow whole-genome resequencing of 150 colonies from the central inshore Great Barrier Reef to inform population genomic analyses. We identify population structure in the host that reflects a Pleistocene split, whereas photosymbiont differences between reefs most likely reflect contemporary (Holocene) conditions. Signatures of selection in the host were associated with genes linked to diverse processes including osmotic regulation, skeletal development, and the establishment and maintenance of symbiosis. Our results suggest that adaptation to post-glacial climate change in A. tenuis has involved selection on many genes, while differences in symbiont specificity between reefs appear to be unrelated to host population structure.

Journal

Science Advances

Publication Name

N/A

Volume

ISBN/ISSN

2375-2548

Edition

N/A

Issue

Pages Count

Location

N/A

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Publisher Url

N/A

Publisher Location

N/A

Publish Date

N/A

Url

N/A

Date

N/A

EISSN

N/A

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.abc6318