Journal article
Pushing the limits: expanding the temperature tolerance of a coral photosymbiont through differing selection regimes
HJ Scharfenstein, LM Peplow, C Alvarez-Roa, MR Nitschke, WY Chan, P Buerger, MJH van Oppen
New Phytologist | WILEY | Published : 2024
DOI: 10.1111/nph.19996
Abstract
Coral thermal bleaching resilience can be improved by enhancing photosymbiont thermal tolerance via experimental evolution. While successful for some strains, selection under stable temperatures was ineffective at increasing the thermal threshold of an already thermo-tolerant photosymbiont (Durusdinium trenchii). Corals from environments with fluctuating temperatures tend to have comparatively high heat tolerance. Therefore, we investigated whether exposure to temperature oscillations can raise the upper thermal limit of D. trenchii. We exposed a D. trenchii strain to stable and fluctuating temperature profiles, which varied in oscillation frequency. After 2.1 yr (54–73 generations), we char..
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Awarded by Great Barrier Reef Foundation
Funding Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the Bindal people as the Traditional Owners of the land where this research was carried out and pay our respects to Elders past and present. This research was supported by the Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship to MJHO (FL180100036), the David Lachlan Hay Memorial Fund to HS, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program, which is funded by the partnership between the Australian Governments Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. HS and CA thank Toby Wright and Niall Jeeves for their help with the design and building of the chambers used for the respirometry. HS also thanks Dave Hughes for his advice on respiration, Florita Flores for her flow cytometry expertise and Corinne Allen for her help during the experimental evolution. Open access publishing facilitated by The University of Melbourne, as part of the Wiley - The University of Melbourne agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.