Complex life cycles characterized by uncertainty at transitions between larval/juvenile and adult environments could favour irreversible physiological plasticity at such transitions. To assess whether thermal tolerance of intertidal mussels () adjusts to post-settlement environmental conditions, we collected juveniles from their thermally buffered microhabitat from high- and low-shore locations at cool (wave-exposed) and warm (wave-protected) sites. Juveniles were transplanted to unsheltered cages at the two low sites or placed in a common garden. Juveniles transplanted to the warm site for one month in summer had higher thermal tolerance, regardless of origin site. By contrast, common-garden juveniles from all sites had lower tolerance indistinguishable from exposed site transplants. After six months in the field plus a common garden period, there was a trend for higher thermal tolerance at the protected site, while reduced thermal tolerance at both sites indicated seasonal acclimatization. Thermal tolerance and growth rate were inversely related after one but not six months; protected-site transplants were more tolerant but grew more slowly. In contrast to juveniles, adults from low-shore exposed and protected sites retained differences in thermal tolerance after common garden treatment in summer. Both irreversible and reversible forms of plasticity must be considered in organismal responses to changing environments.

The response of coral reef ecosystems to anthropogenic climate change is driven by a complex interaction between location, stress history, species composition, and genetic background of the reef system. The latter two factors are particularly relevant when considering the different reproductive strategies used by coral species. We studied the stress resistant coral Montipora capitata and the more stress sensitive Pocillopora acuta from Kāneʻohe Bay, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. High-quality genome assemblies were generated for both species with the M. capitata assembly at chromosome-level resolution and the P. acuta assembly derived from a triploid colony, representing the first non-diploid genome generated from a coral. We report significant differences in the reproductive strategies of these coral species that not only affect the genetic structure of their populations in Kāneʻohe Bay, but also impact algal symbiont composition. Single-nucleotide polymorphism analysis shows that P. acuta comprises at least nine distinct genotypes in the bay with ancestral diploid and derived triploid lineages. In contrast, M. capitata colonies are diploids with nearly all being genotypically distinct. Genotype has a strong effect on gene expression profiles in these species, largely outweighing the effects of environmental stress. Our insights advance understanding of how reproductive strategy and ploidy can vary between different coral species and among local populations, how these factors constrain coral holobiont genetic diversity, and how genotype constrains genome-wide gene expression.

In light of the chronic stress and mass mortality reef-building corals face under climate change, it is critical to understand the processes essential to reef persistence and replenishment, including coral reproduction and development. Here we quantify gene expression and size sensitivity to ocean acidification across a set of developmental stages in the rice coral, Montipora capitata. Gametes and then embryos and swimming larvae were exposed to three pH treatments ranging from 7.8 (Ambient), 7.6 (Low) and 7.3 (Xlow) from fertilization to 9 days post-fertilization. Embryo development and size, planula volume, and stage-specific gene expression were compared between treatments at each stage to determine the effects of acidified seawater on early development. While there was no measurable size differentiation between fertilized eggs and embryos at the prawn chip stage exposed to ambient, low, and extreme low pH, early gastrula and planula raised in reduced pH treatments were significantly smaller than those raised in ambient seawater, suggesting an energetic cost to developing under low pH. However, no differentially expressed genes emerged between treatments at any time point, except swimming larvae. Larvae from pH 7.6 showed upregulation of genes involved in cell division, regulation of transcription, lipid metabolism, and oxidative stress in comparison to the other two treatments, and smallest sizes in this treatment. While low pH appears to increase energetic demands and trigger oxidative stress, the developmental process is robust to this at a molecular level, with swimming larval stage reached in all pH treatments.

Background Maternal mRNA provisioning of oocytes regulates early embryogenesis. Maternal transcripts are degraded as zygotic genome activation (ZGA) intensifies, a phenomenon known as the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT). Here, we examine gene expression over nine developmental stages in the Pacific rice coral, Montipora capitata, from eggs and embryos at 1, 4, 9, 14, 22, and 36 h-post-fertilization (hpf), as well as swimming larvae (9d), and adult colonies. Results Weighted Gene Coexpression Network Analysis revealed four expression peaks, identifying the maternal complement, two waves of the MZT, and adult expression. Gene ontology enrichment revealed maternal mRNAs are dominated by cell division, methylation, biosynthesis, metabolism, and protein/RNA processing and transport functions. The first MZT wave occurs from ~4-14 hpf and is enriched in terms related to biosynthesis, methylation, cell division, and transcription. In contrast, functional enrichment in the second MZT wave, or ZGA, from 22 hpf-9dpf, includes ion/peptide transport and cell signaling. Finally, adult expression is enriched for functions related to signaling, metabolism, and ion/peptide transport. Our proposed MZT timing is further supported by expression of enzymes involved in zygotic transcriptional repression (Kaiso) and activation (Sox2), which peak at 14 hpf and 22 hpf, respectively. Further, DNA methylation writing (DNMT3a) and removing (TET1) enzymes peak and remain stable past ~4 hpf, suggesting that methylome programming occurs before 4 hpf. Conclusions Our high-resolution insight into the coral maternal mRNA and MZT provides essential baseline information to understand parental carryover effects and the sensitivity of developmental success under increasing environmental stress.