Journal article
Fertile Hybrids Could Aid Coral Adaptation
AM Lamb, LM Peplow, WY Chan, ZJ Crane, GA Everson, PL Harrison, TE Hite, AA Hoffmann, CA Humphrey, LP Koukoumaftsis, MJH van Oppen
Ecology and Evolution | WILEY | Published : 2024
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.70570
Abstract
Fertile hybrids can enhance the adaptive capacity and resilience of species under stress by increasing genetic diversity within populations, masking the effects of deleterious recessive alleles, and facilitating the introgression of beneficial genetic variants into parental species. However, many hybrids are infertile. We compared the fertility of aquarium-reared F1 hybrid and purebred corals of the species Acropora loripes and Acropora kenti and examined the viability of early life stages of second-generation (F2) hybrid and back-crossed planula larvae and recruits. The F1 hybrids spawned viable gametes and the F2 hybrid and back-crossed embryos developed into planula larvae and settled to ..
View full abstractGrants
Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the Bindal and Wulgurukaba people who are the traditional owners of the land on which we have conducted this work. We pay our respects to their elders both past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. We thank the staff of the National Sea Simulator, Lorenzo Latini, and Guy McCutchan for maintaining the coral hybrids since 2015 and Sophie Barkla, Nadine Boulotte, Zoe Crane, Anneke Everson, Sara Godinez, Heidi Hardisty, Bede Johnston, Lorenzo Latini, Bridie Lewis, Bella Marrable, Grant Milton, Guy McCutchan, Michaela Miller, Rachel Neil, Anton Rocconi, Hugo Scharfenstein, and the AIMS SeaSim team for their assistance during coral spawning periods.