Genome-Wide DNA Methylation Analysis Reveals a Conserved Epigenetic Response to Seasonal Environmental Variation in the Staghorn Coral Acropora cervicornis

Epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation have been shown to participate in plastic responses to environmental change in a wide range of organisms, including scleractinian corals. Unfortunately, the current understanding of the links between environmental signals, epigenetic modifications, an...

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Published inFrontiers in Marine Science Vol. 7
Main Authors Rodríguez-Casariego, Javier A., Mercado-Molina, Alex E., Garcia-Souto, Daniel, Ortiz-Rivera, Ivanna M., Lopes, Christian, Baums, Iliana B., Sabat, Alberto M., Eirin-Lopez, Jose M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Lausanne Frontiers Research Foundation 30.09.2020
Frontiers Media S.A
Subjects
Acropora cervicornis
Chemical analysis
Coral reefs
Corals
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA methylation
Environmental changes
Epigenetics
Genets
Genomes
MSAP
Organisms
Seasonal variation
Seasonal variations
seasonality
Seawater
staghorn coral
stress response
temperature
Temporal variations
Water analysis
Water temperature
United States > US
Puerto Rico
Culebra
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Summary:Epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation have been shown to participate in plastic responses to environmental change in a wide range of organisms, including scleractinian corals. Unfortunately, the current understanding of the links between environmental signals, epigenetic modifications, and the subsequent consequences for acclimatory phenotypic changes remain obscure. Such a knowledge gap extends also to the dynamic nature of epigenetic changes, hampering our ability to ascertain the magnitude and extent of these responses under natural conditions. The present work aims to shed light on these subjects by examining temporal changes in genome-wide patterns of DNA methylation in the staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis in the island of Culebra, PR. During a 17-month period, a total of 162 polymorphic loci were identified using Methylation-Sensitive Amplified Polymorphism (MSAP). Among them, 83 of these fragments displayed changes in DNA methylation changes that were significantly correlated to seasonal variation as determined mostly by changes in sea water temperature. Remarkably, the observed time-dependent change in DNA methylation patterns is consistent across coral genets, coral source sites and site-specific conditions studied. Overall, these results are consistent with a conserved epigenetic response to seasonal environmental variation. These findings highlight the importance of including seasonal variability into experimental designs investigating the role of epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation in responses to stress.
ISSN:2296-7745
2296-7745
DOI:10.3389/fmars.2020.560424