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Positive genetic associations among fitness traits support evolvability of a reef-building coral under multiple stressors

View ORCID ProfileRachel M. Wright, View ORCID ProfileHanaka Mera, View ORCID ProfileCarly D. Kenkel, View ORCID ProfileMaria Nayfa, View ORCID ProfileLine K. Bay, View ORCID ProfileMikhail V. Matz
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/572321
Rachel M. Wright
1Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115, USA
2Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, 2415 Speedway C0990, Austin, TX 78712, USA
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Hanaka Mera
3Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
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Carly D. Kenkel
3Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
4Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, 3616 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
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Maria Nayfa
5Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811 Australia
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Line K. Bay
3Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
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Mikhail V. Matz
2Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, 2415 Speedway C0990, Austin, TX 78712, USA
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Abstract

Climate change threatens organisms in a variety of interactive ways that requires simultaneous adaptation of multiple traits. Predicting evolutionary responses requires an understanding of the potential for synergistic interactions among stressors and the genetic variance and covariance among fitness-related traits that may reinforce or constrain an adaptive response. Here we investigate the capacity of Acropora millepora, a reef-building coral, to adapt to multiple environmental stressors: rising sea surface temperature, ocean acidification, and increased prevalence of infectious diseases. We measured growth rates (weight gain), coral color (a proxy for Symbiodiniaceae density), and survival, in addition to nine physiological indicators of coral and algal health in 40 coral genets exposed to each of these three stressors singly and combined. Individual stressors resulted in predicted responses (e.g., corals developed lesions after bacterial challenge and bleached under thermal stress). However, corals did not suffer substantially more when all three stressors were combined. Nor were tradeoffs observed between tolerances to different stressors; instead, individuals performing well under one stressor also tended to perform well under every other stressor. An analysis of genetic correlations between traits revealed positive co-variances, suggesting that selection to multiple stressors will reinforce rather than constrain the simultaneous evolution of traits related to holobiont health (e.g., weight gain and algal density). These findings support the potential for rapid coral adaptation under climate change and emphasize the importance of accounting for corals’ adaptive capacity when predicting the future of coral reefs.

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Posted March 11, 2019.
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Positive genetic associations among fitness traits support evolvability of a reef-building coral under multiple stressors
Rachel M. Wright, Hanaka Mera, Carly D. Kenkel, Maria Nayfa, Line K. Bay, Mikhail V. Matz
bioRxiv 572321; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/572321
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Positive genetic associations among fitness traits support evolvability of a reef-building coral under multiple stressors
Rachel M. Wright, Hanaka Mera, Carly D. Kenkel, Maria Nayfa, Line K. Bay, Mikhail V. Matz
bioRxiv 572321; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/572321

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