Meeting Abstract

87.2  Tuesday, Jan. 6 13:45  Impacts of temperature on the reproductive physiology of the brooding coral Pocillopora damicornis during different phases of the lunar cycle: Insights from transcriptomics CROWDER, CM*; MEYER, E; FAN, T-Y; WEIS, VM; Oregon State University, Corvallis Oregon; Oregon State University, Corvallis Oregon; National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, Checheng Taiwan; Oregon State University, Corvallis Oregon crowderc@onid.oregonstate.edu

The timing of reproduction in corals is associated with interrelated environmental variables, including temperature, lunar periodicity, and seasonality. Given the environmental crisis currently facing corals, it is essential to examine the effects that changing environmental variables have on coral reproductive physiology. To evaluate these effects, replicate Pocillopora damicornis corals were collected from Nanwan Bay, southern Taiwan and placed in seawater tanks exposed to natural light and subjected to a high (28°C) and a low (23°C) temperature treatment during a monthly reproductive cycle. The timing of reproduction, measured as the number of planulae released per lunar day, was compared for the two temperature treatments. There was a significant shift in the timing of planulae release, with earlier release occurring in corals exposed to higher temperature. Furthermore, to evaluate the effects of temperature on the transcriptomic profiles associated with monthly reproductive cycles, high throughput RNA-Seq analysis was conducted on replicate colonies. Tissue samples were collected at four different lunar phases (new moon, 1st quarter, full moon, and 3rd quarter) and analyzed for global changes in gene expression profiles. This work contributes an unbiased functional genomics approach to expression profiling during reproductive cycles to identify genes in cnidarian reproductive pathways.