Data from: Ocean acidification influences host DNA methylation and phenotypic plasticity in environmentally susceptible corals ...

As climate change challenges organismal fitness by creating a phenotype–environment mismatch, phenotypic plasticity generated by epigenetic mechanisms (e.g., DNA methylation) can provide a temporal buffer for genetic adaptation. Epigenetic mechanisms may be crucial for sessile benthic marine organis...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Putnam, Hollie M., Davidson, Jennifer M., Gates, Ruth D.
Format: Dataset
Language:English
Published: Dryad 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.nn8kv
https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.nn8kv
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Summary:As climate change challenges organismal fitness by creating a phenotype–environment mismatch, phenotypic plasticity generated by epigenetic mechanisms (e.g., DNA methylation) can provide a temporal buffer for genetic adaptation. Epigenetic mechanisms may be crucial for sessile benthic marine organisms, such as reef-building corals, where ocean acidification (OA) and warming reflect in strong negative responses. We tested the potential for scleractinian corals to exhibit phenotypic plasticity associated with a change in DNA methylation in response to OA. Clonal coral fragments of the environmentally sensitive Pocillopora damicornis and more environmentally robust Montipora capitata were exposed to fluctuating ambient pH (7.9–7.65) and low pH (7.6–7.35) conditions in common garden tanks for ~6 weeks. M. capitata responded weakly, or acclimated more quickly, to OA, with no difference in calcification, minimal separation of metabolomic profiles, and no change in DNA methylation between treatments. Conversely, P. ... : Full analysis and data repository for Putnam et al Evolutionary Applications 2016All Analysis Script, Data, and Output files to reproduce results and figures for Putnam et al Evolutionary Applications 2016Coral_DNAMethylation_Plasticity_zipped.zip ...