Meeting Abstract
While most symbiotic cnidarians associate exclusively with Symbiodinium spp., the sea anemone A. elegantissima naturally occurs in 3 distinct symbiotic states: zooxanthellate (hosting Symbiodinium muscatinei), zoochlorellate (hosting Elliptochloris marina), and asymbiotic (lacking symbionts altogether). Where their overlapping distributions converge (E. marina in the north and S. muscatinei in the south) symbiont specific abundances appear to coincide with preferred habitat type (i.e. cooler temperatures and decreased irradiance for E. marina vs. prolonged high-temperature and irradiance for S. muscatinei) and may play a key role in this species resilience to climate change. We use a combined transcriptomic and metabolomic approach to evaluate the genomic and metabolic signatures and potential contributions of each symbiont type. Overall gene expression profiles grouped according to symbiont association, with a large proportion of the upregulated genes being more highly expressed in S. muscatinei associated anemones. Our gene ontology (GO) analyses linked dozens of transcripts to some of the more inclusive GO terms, while others were associated with gene products that may play a role in mediating stable symbioses. Our principal component analysis of the metabolic data revealed that all anemones in each symbiont condition have more similar metabolite profiles to each other than to anemones in another symbiont association, with 154 of the 355 metabolites screened exhibiting significant differences among symbiont groups. This combined approach has allowed us to identify gene products and metabolites associated with maintaining stable symbioses in this resilient intertidal invertebrate.
