Gene expression of Pocillopora damicornis coral larvae in response to acidification and ocean warming.
Youfang Sun, Yi Lan, Nils Rädecker, Huaxia Sheng, Guillermo Diaz-Pulido, Pei-Yuan Qian, Hui Huang
Author Information
Youfang Sun: Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 510301, Guangzhou, China.
Yi Lan: Department of Ocean Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.
Nils Rädecker: Laboratory for Biological Geochemistry, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Huaxia Sheng: State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Sciences, Xiamen University, 361101, Xiamen, China.
Guillermo Diaz-Pulido: School of Environment and Science, Coastal and Marine Research Centre, and Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Nathan Campus, 4111, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Pei-Yuan Qian: Department of Ocean Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China. boqianpy@ust.hk.
Hui Huang: Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 510301, Guangzhou, China. huanghui@scsio.ac.cn.
OBJECTIVES: The endosymbiosis with Symbiodiniaceae is key to the ecological success of reef-building corals. However, climate change is threatening to destabilize this symbiosis on a global scale. Most studies looking into the response of corals to heat stress and ocean acidification focus on coral colonies. As such, our knowledge of symbiotic interactions and stress response in other stages of the coral lifecycle remains limited. Establishing transcriptomic resources for coral larvae under stress can thus provide a foundation for understanding the genomic basis of symbiosis, and its susceptibility to climate change. Here, we present a gene expression dataset generated from larvae of the coral Pocillopora damicornis in response to exposure to acidification and elevated temperature conditions below the bleaching threshold of the symbiosis. DATA DESCRIPTION: This dataset is comprised of 16 samples (30 larvae per sample) collected from four treatments (Control, High pCO, High Temperature, and Combined pCO and Temperature treatments). Freshly collected larvae were exposed to treatment conditions for five days, providing valuable insights into gene expression in this vulnerable stage of the lifecycle. In combination with previously published datasets, this transcriptomic resource will facilitate the in-depth investigation of the effects of ocean acidification and elevated temperature on coral larvae and its implication for symbiosis.
