Pushing the limits: expanding the temperature tolerance of a coral photosymbiont through differing selection regimes

• Published in: The New phytologist 2024-09, Vol.243 (6), p.2130-2145
• Main Authors: Scharfenstein, Hugo J., Peplow, Lesa M., Alvarez‐Roa, Carlos, Nitschke, Matthew R., Chan, Wing Yan, Buerger, Patrick, Oppen, Madeleine J. H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adaptation; Animals; Anthozoa - physiology; Anthozoa - radiation effects; assisted evolution; Bleaching; Corals; Evolution; experimental evolution; Heat; Heat resistance; Heat tolerance; High temperature; Homogeneity; marine microalgae; Oscillations; Photosynthesis; Reactive oxygen species; Reactive Oxygen Species - metabolism; Selection, Genetic; Symbiodiniaceae; Symbiosis - physiology; Temperature; Temperature profile; Temperature profiles; Temperature tolerance; thermal selection; Thermal stress; thermal tolerance; Thermotolerance - physiology; Threshold limits
• ISSN: 0028-646X; 1469-8137; 1469-8137
• DOI: 10.1111/nph.19996

Summary 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 characterised the adaptive responses under the various experimental evolution treatments by constructing thermal performance curves of growth from 21 to 31°C for the heat‐evolved and wild‐type lineages. Additionally, the accumulation of extracellular reactive oxygen species, photophysiology, photosynthesis and respiration rates were assessed under increasing temperatures. Of the fluctuating temperature profiles investigated, selection under the most frequent oscillations (diurnal) induced the greatest widening of D. trenchii's thermal niche. Continuous selection under elevated temperatures induced the only increase in thermal optimum and a degree of generalism. Our findings demonstrate how differing levels of thermal homogeneity during selection drive unique adaptive responses to heat in a coral photosymbiont.