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Juvenile corals inherit mutations acquired during the parent’s lifespan

Kate L. Vasquez Kuntz, View ORCID ProfileSheila A. Kitchen, Trinity L. Conn, Samuel A. Vohsen, View ORCID ProfileAndrea N. Chan, Mark J. A. Vermeij, Christopher Page, Kristen L. Marhaver, View ORCID ProfileIliana B. Baums
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.19.345538
Kate L. Vasquez Kuntz
1Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park PA 16803
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Sheila A. Kitchen
1Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park PA 16803
2Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125
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  • ORCID record for Sheila A. Kitchen
Trinity L. Conn
1Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park PA 16803
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Samuel A. Vohsen
1Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park PA 16803
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Andrea N. Chan
1Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park PA 16803
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Mark J. A. Vermeij
3CARMABI Foundation, Piscaderabaai z/n, PO Box 2090, Willemstad, Curacao
4Department of Freshwater and Marine Ecology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, 1090 GE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Christopher Page
5Mote Marine Laboratory, 24244 Overseas Highway, Summerland Key, FL 33042
6University of Hawai’i at Manoa, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, 2540 Dole Street, Holmes Hall 402, Honolulu, HI 96822
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Kristen L. Marhaver
3CARMABI Foundation, Piscaderabaai z/n, PO Box 2090, Willemstad, Curacao
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Iliana B. Baums
1Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park PA 16803
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  • ORCID record for Iliana B. Baums
  • For correspondence: baums@psu.edu
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Abstract

128 years ago, August Weismann proposed that the only source of inherited genetic variation in animals is the germline1. Julian Huxley reasoned that if this were true, it would falsify Jean-Baptiste Lamarck’s theory that acquired characteristics are heritable2. Since then, scientists have discovered that not all animals segregate germline cells from somatic cells permanently and early in development3. In fact, throughout their lives, Cnidaria4–6 and Porifera7 maintain primordial stem cells that continuously give rise to both germline and somatic cells. The fate of mutations generated in this primordial stem cell line during adulthood remains an open question. It was unknown whether post-embryonic mutations could be heritable in animals8–10—until now. Here we use two independent genetic marker analyses to show that post-embryonic mutations are inherited in the coral Acropora palmata (Cnidaria, Anthozoa). This discovery upends the long-held supposition that post-embryonic genetic mutations acquired over an animal’s lifetime in non-germline tissues are not heritable2. Over the centuries-long lifespan of a coral, the inheritance of post-embryonic mutations may not only change allele frequencies in the local larval pool but may also spread novel alleles across great distances via larval dispersal. Thus, corals may have the potential to adapt to changing environments via heritable somatic mutations10. This mechanism challenges our understanding of animal adaptation and prompts a deeper examination of both the process of germline determination in Cnidaria and the role of post-embryonic genetic mutations in adaptation and epigenetics of modular animals. Understanding the role of post-embryonic mutations in animal adaptation will be crucial as ecological change accelerates in the Anthropocene.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • klv9{at}psu.edu, sak89{at}psu.edu, tlc458{at}psu.edu, svohsen1{at}gmail.com, andrea.n.chan13{at}gmail.com

  • sak3097{at}caltech.edu

  • kristen{at}marhaverlab.com; m.vermeij{at}carmabi.org

  • cpage{at}mote.org

  • Pagec{at}si.edu

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Juvenile corals inherit mutations acquired during the parent’s lifespan
Kate L. Vasquez Kuntz, Sheila A. Kitchen, Trinity L. Conn, Samuel A. Vohsen, Andrea N. Chan, Mark J. A. Vermeij, Christopher Page, Kristen L. Marhaver, Iliana B. Baums
bioRxiv 2020.10.19.345538; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.19.345538
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Juvenile corals inherit mutations acquired during the parent’s lifespan
Kate L. Vasquez Kuntz, Sheila A. Kitchen, Trinity L. Conn, Samuel A. Vohsen, Andrea N. Chan, Mark J. A. Vermeij, Christopher Page, Kristen L. Marhaver, Iliana B. Baums
bioRxiv 2020.10.19.345538; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.19.345538

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