Standing genetic variation fuels rapid adaptation to ocean acidification

• Main Authors: Bitter, Mark C., Kapsenberg, Lydia, Gattuso, Jean-Pierre, Pfister, Catherine A.
• Other Authors: National Science Foundation (US), European Commission, University of Chicago
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Nature Publishing Group 2019
• Subjects: Ocean acidification
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/201927; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13767-1; https://doi.org/10.13039/100007234; https://doi.org/10.13039/100000001; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000780

10 pages, 4 figures, supplementary information https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13767-1 Global climate change has intensified the need to assess the capacity for natural populations to adapt to abrupt shifts in the environment. Reductions in seawater pH constitute a conspicuous global change stressor that is affecting marine ecosystems globally. Here, we quantify the phenotypic and genetic modifications associated with rapid adaptation to reduced seawater pH in the Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis. We reared a genetically diverse larval population in two pH treatments (pH 8.1 and 7.4) and tracked changes in the shell-size distribution and genetic variation through settlement. Additionally, we identified differences in the signatures of selection on shell growth in each pH environment. Both phenotypic and genetic data show that standing variation can facilitate adaptation to declines in seawater pH. This work provides insight into the processes underpinning rapid evolution, and demonstrates the importance of maintaining variation within natural populations to bolster species’ adaptive capacity as global change progresses This research was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. 1746045 to M.C.B. and NSF OCE-1521597 to L.K. M.C.B. was supported by Department of Education Grant No. P200A150101. L.K. was also supported by the European Commission Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action (No. 747637). Research funding was provided by the France and University of Chicago Center FAACTs award to C.A.P. and M.C.B.