title: CORAL REEFS. Genomic determinants of coral heat tolerance across latitudes.
abstract: As global warming continues, reef-building corals could avoid local population declines through "genetic rescue" involving exchange of heat-tolerant genotypes across latitudes, but only if latitudinal variation in thermal tolerance is heritable. Here, we show an up-to-10-fold increase in odds of survival of coral larvae under heat stress when their parents come from a warmer lower-latitude location. Elevated thermal tolerance was associated with heritable differences in expression of oxidative, extracellular, transport, and mitochondrial functions that indicated a lack of prior stress. Moreover, two genomic regions strongly responded to selection for thermal tolerance in interlatitudinal crosses. These results demonstrate that variation in coral thermal tolerance across latitudes has a strong genetic basis and could serve as raw material for natural selection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, 205 W. 24th Street C0990, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
authors.forename: Groves B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Dixon
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, 205 W. 24th Street C0990, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, 205 W. 24th Street C0990, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
authors.forename: Galina A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Aglyamova
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University, 3106 Cordley Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
authors.forename: Eli
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB 3, Townsville MC, Queensland 4810, Australia. l.bay@aims.gov.au matz@utexas.edu.
authors.forename: Line K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Bay
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, 205 W. 24th Street C0990, Austin, TX 78712, USA. l.bay@aims.gov.au matz@utexas.edu.
authors.forename: Mikhail V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Matz
mesh_terms: D000064:Acclimatization / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D057894:Coral Reefs; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D015870:Gene Expression; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005819:Genetic Markers; D057232:Global Warming; D006358:Hot Temperature; D007814:Larva / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers