Local adaptation is ubiquitous, but the molecular mechanisms that give rise to this ecological phenomenon remain largely unknown. A year-long reciprocal transplant of mustard hill coral (Porites astreoides) between a highly environmentally variable inshore habitat and a more stable offshore habitat demonstrated that populations exhibit phenotypic signatures that are consistent with local adaptation. We characterized the genomic basis of this adaptation in both coral hosts and their intracellular symbionts (Symbiodinium sp.) using genome-wide gene expression profiling. Populations differed primarily in their capacity for plasticity: following transplantation to a novel environment, inshore-origin coral expression profiles became significantly more similar to the local population's profiles than those in offshore-origin corals. Furthermore, elevated plasticity of the environmental stress response expression was correlated with lower susceptibility to a natural summer bleaching event, suggesting that plasticity is adaptive in the inshore environment. Our results reveal a novel genomic mechanism of resilience to a variable environment, demonstrating that corals are capable of a more diverse molecular response to stress than previously thought.
R script for statistical analyses
Annotated R script for completing statistical analyses as described in the publication (e.g. WGCNA, DAPC, etc).
WGCNA_DFA_final.R
R script for plots
Annotated R script for obtaining gene lists from gene ontology enrichement analyses (completed using the GO_MWU package - https://github.com/z0on/GO_MWU) and plotting heatmaps.
go_plotresults_versionCarl.R
Coral Host Physiological Trait Data
.csv file of physiological trait data for coral host samples, used as input for the WGCNA R script.
WGCNA_traitsHost.csv
Gene Ontology Annotations for Porites astreoides transcriptome
.tab file of GO term annotations for isogroups in the Porites astreoides transcriptome. Used as input for the statistical and plots R scripts.
past2digNvecManual_apr2014_iso2go_ckupdate.tab
DAPC assignments for host cellular response to stress genes
.csv file of DAPC assignments for environmental stress response genes - i.e. those annotated with the GO terms 'cellular response to stress' and 'ribosome biogenesis'. Used as input for statistical R script.
Host_IndividCoord_DFA_CRSgenes.csv
Standardized traits in coral host
.csv file of standardized gene expression and fitness-related traits (percent weight gain) for the coral host. Used to calculate the costs of expression plasticity using the selection gradient method. Used as input for the statistical R script.
PlasticityCosts.csv
Normalized expression data for ESR genes in the coral host
.csv file of normalized expression data by sample for genes annotated with either the 'cellular response to stress' or 'ribosome biogenesis' GO term. Used as input for R statistical script.
Host_annotESRgenes_CRSriboBiogen.csv
DAPC assignments for all Symbiodinium genes
.csv file of DAPC assignments for all high expression Symbiodinium genes. Used as input for statistical R script.
Sym_IndividCoord_DFA_1174genes.csv
DAPC assignments for all coral host genes
.csv file of DAPC assignments for all high expression coral host genes. Used as input for statistical R script.
Host_IndividCoord_DFA_7008genes.csv
Gene Ontology Annotations for Symbiodinium Clade A transcriptome (kb8)
.tab file of GO term annotations for isogroups in the Symbiodinium Clade A transcriptome (strain kb8). Used as input for the statistical and plots R scripts.
kb8_mar2014_iso2go.tab
Raw expression counts for coral host
Table of raw read count data for the coral host by sample (ii=inshore to inshore; io=inshore to offshore; oi=offshore to inshore; oo=offshore to offshore; number indicates genotype). Used as input for the R statistical script.
allcountsHostOnly_Bowtie2.txt
Raw expression counts for Symbiodinium
Table of raw read count data for in hospite Symbiodinium by sample (ii=inshore to inshore; io=inshore to offshore; oi=offshore to inshore; oo=offshore to offshore; number indicates genotype). Used as input for the R statistical script.
allcountsSymOnly_Bowtie2.txt
Gene Name Annotations for Porites astreoides transcriptome
.tab file of gene name annotations for isogroups in the Porites astreoides transcriptome. Used as input for the statistical and plots R scripts
past_apr2014_iso2gene.tab
Gene Name Annotations for Symbiodinium Clade A transcriptome (kb8)
.tab file of gene name annotations for isogroups in the Symbiodinium Clade A (strain kb8) transcriptome. Used as input for the statistical and plots R scripts
kb8_mar2014_iso2gene.tab