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Seasonal temperature, the lunar cycle and diurnal rhythms interact in a combinatorial manner to modulate genomic responses to the environment in a reef‐building coral
Author(s) -
Wuitchik Daniel M.,
Wang DongZhuo,
Pells Troy J.,
Karimi Kamran,
Ward Selina,
Vize Peter D.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
molecular ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.619
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1365-294X
pISSN - 0962-1083
DOI - 10.1111/mec.15173
Subject(s) - biology , transcriptome , adaptation (eye) , circadian clock , evolutionary biology , ecology , coral , gene , circadian rhythm , genetics , gene expression , neuroscience
Rhythms of various periodicities drive cyclical processes in organisms ranging from single cells to the largest mammals on earth, and on scales from cellular physiology to global migrations. The molecular mechanisms that generate circadian behaviours in model organisms have been well studied, but longer phase cycles and interactions between cycles with different periodicities remain poorly understood. Broadcast spawning corals are one of the best examples of an organism integrating inputs from multiple environmental parameters, including seasonal temperature, the lunar phase and hour of the day, to calibrate their annual reproductive event. We present a deep RNA‐sequencing experiment utilizing multiple analyses to differentiate transcriptomic responses modulated by the interactions between the three aforementioned environmental parameters. Acropora millepora was sampled over multiple 24‐hr periods throughout a full lunar month and at two seasonal temperatures. Temperature, lunar and diurnal cycles produce distinct transcriptomic responses, with interactions between all three variables identifying a core set of genes. These core genes include mef2 , a developmental master regulator, and two heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins, one of which is known to post‐transcriptionally interact with mef2 and with biological clock‐regulating mRNAs. Interactions between diurnal and temperature differences impacted a range of core processes ranging from biological clocks to stress responses. Genes involved with developmental processes and transcriptional regulation were impacted by the lunar phase and seasonal temperature differences. Lastly, there was a diurnal and lunar phase interaction in which genes involved with RNA‐processing and translational regulation were differentially regulated. These data illustrate the extraordinary levels of transcriptional variation across time in a simple radial cnidarian in response to the environment under normal conditions.