title: Condition-specific RNA editing in the coral symbiont Symbiodinium microadriaticum.
abstract: RNA editing is a rare post-transcriptional event that provides cells with an additional level of gene expression regulation. It has been implicated in various processes including adaptation, viral defence and RNA interference; however, its potential role as a mechanism in acclimatization has just recently been recognised. Here, we show that RNA editing occurs in 1.6% of all nuclear-encoded genes of Symbiodinium microadriaticum, a dinoflagellate symbiont of reef-building corals. All base-substitution edit types were present, and statistically significant motifs were associated with three edit types. Strikingly, a subset of genes exhibited condition-specific editing patterns in response to different stressors that resulted in significant increases of non-synonymous changes. We posit that this previously unrecognised mechanism extends this organism's capability to respond to stress beyond what is encoded by the genome. This in turn may provide further acclimatization capacity to these organisms, and by extension, their coral hosts.
authors.affiliation: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Biological and Environmental Sciences & Engineering Division (BESE), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Yi Jin
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2553-8870
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Liew
authors.affiliation: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Biological and Environmental Sciences & Engineering Division (BESE), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Biological and Environmental Sciences & Engineering Division (BESE), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2646-7699
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baumgarten
authors.affiliation: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Biological and Environmental Sciences & Engineering Division (BESE), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Christian R
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4555-3795
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Voolstra
authors.affiliation: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Biological and Environmental Sciences & Engineering Division (BESE), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6673-016X
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aranda
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000469:parasitology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics; D057894:Coral Reefs; D004141:Dinoflagellida / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods; D063990:Gene Ontology; D017125:Genes, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D017393:RNA Editing; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013559:Symbiosis; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D015800:Protozoan Proteins