Seasonal gene expression changes and transcriptional responses of azooxanthellate octocoral, Eleutherobia rubra to heat shock

Abstract

Azooxanthellate octocoral, Eleutherobia rubra were collected in South Sea, Republic of Korea where was designated as a marine protected area. The Seas around Korean peninsula are at the edge of the Northwest Pacific Ocean and affected by the Kuroshio Warm Current (1). This current was highest in 1981-1998, when the seawater surface temperature rose 1.5 °C and over 10 years it rose 0.9 °C, 7 times higher than the Earth's surface temperature rise (2). The corals were exposed to the higher temperature than its habitual temperature and RNAs were extracted to investigate the differentially expressed genes and the transcriptional changes using microarray. Additionally we investigated the seasonal and regional gene expressions of E. rubra using RNA de novo sequencing. The investigation of regulatory mechanisms governing stress responses by monitoring the changes of transcriptional profiles can be early warning molecular markers and provide an important source of information on acclimatization or adaptation to external stresses. This study purposedto investigate the gene expressions changes of the temperate azooxanthellate octocoral responding to thermal shock and transcriptional regulation behind physiological resilience and acclimatization capabilities of E. rubra in seasonal seawater temperature changes.