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Whole-genome duplication in an algal symbiont serendipitously confers thermal tolerance to corals

View ORCID ProfileKatherine E. Dougan, View ORCID ProfileAnthony J. Bellantuono, View ORCID ProfileTim Kahlke, View ORCID ProfileRaffaela M. Abbriano, View ORCID ProfileYibi Chen, View ORCID ProfileSarah Shah, View ORCID ProfileCamila Granados-Cifuentes, View ORCID ProfileMadeleine J. H. van Oppen, View ORCID ProfileDebashish Bhattacharya, View ORCID ProfileDavid J. Suggett, View ORCID ProfileCheong Xin Chan, View ORCID ProfileMauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.10.487810
Katherine E. Dougan
1The University of Queensland, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
2Florida International University, Department of Biological Sciences, Miami, FL 33099, U.S.A.
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  • For correspondence: k.dougan@uq.edu.au c.chan1@uq.edu.au rodmauri@fiu.edu
Anthony J. Bellantuono
3Florida International University, Department of Biological Sciences, Biomolecular Science Institute, Miami, FL 33099, U.S.A.
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Tim Kahlke
4University of Technology Sydney, Climate Change Cluster, NSW 2007, Australia
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Raffaela M. Abbriano
4University of Technology Sydney, Climate Change Cluster, NSW 2007, Australia
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Yibi Chen
1The University of Queensland, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
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Sarah Shah
1The University of Queensland, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
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Camila Granados-Cifuentes
2Florida International University, Department of Biological Sciences, Miami, FL 33099, U.S.A.
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Madeleine J. H. van Oppen
5School of Biosciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
6Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, QLD 4810, Australia
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Debashish Bhattacharya
7Rutgers University, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, U.S.A.
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David J. Suggett
4University of Technology Sydney, Climate Change Cluster, NSW 2007, Australia
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Cheong Xin Chan
1The University of Queensland, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
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  • For correspondence: k.dougan@uq.edu.au c.chan1@uq.edu.au rodmauri@fiu.edu
Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty
2Florida International University, Department of Biological Sciences, Miami, FL 33099, U.S.A.
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  • For correspondence: k.dougan@uq.edu.au c.chan1@uq.edu.au rodmauri@fiu.edu
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Abstract

Coral reefs are fundamentally sustained by symbioses involving dinoflagellate algae in the Family Symbiodiniaceae. The coral symbiont Durusdinium trenchii is notable for enhancing the resilience of coral holobionts under thermal stress. Believed to have experienced whole-genome duplication (WGD), D. trenchii offers a valuable model system to understand how selection acts on the genome of a facultative symbiont after WGD. We present genome assemblies for two isolates of D. trenchii and confirm WGD in these taxa, providing the first example of this phenomenon in a single-celled eukaryotic symbiont. We assess how the facultative lifestyle has contributed to the retention and divergence of duplicated genes, and how these results intersect with the observed thermotolerance of corals hosting D. trenchii symbionts. Our findings reveal that the free-living lifestyle is the main driver of post-WGD evolution, however, they also implicate symbiosis in this process, with both lifestyles increasing algal fitness. Our results demonstrate that WGD, driven by selection in the free-living phase, has converted D. trenchii into a coral symbiont that serendipitously provides increased thermal stress protection to the host coral.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • https://cloudstor.aarnet.edu.au/plus/s/XNkoZSH5MKEG2WO

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 4.0 International license.
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Posted April 11, 2022.
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Whole-genome duplication in an algal symbiont serendipitously confers thermal tolerance to corals
Katherine E. Dougan, Anthony J. Bellantuono, Tim Kahlke, Raffaela M. Abbriano, Yibi Chen, Sarah Shah, Camila Granados-Cifuentes, Madeleine J. H. van Oppen, Debashish Bhattacharya, David J. Suggett, Cheong Xin Chan, Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty
bioRxiv 2022.04.10.487810; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.10.487810
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Whole-genome duplication in an algal symbiont serendipitously confers thermal tolerance to corals
Katherine E. Dougan, Anthony J. Bellantuono, Tim Kahlke, Raffaela M. Abbriano, Yibi Chen, Sarah Shah, Camila Granados-Cifuentes, Madeleine J. H. van Oppen, Debashish Bhattacharya, David J. Suggett, Cheong Xin Chan, Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty
bioRxiv 2022.04.10.487810; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.10.487810

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