Demographic Inferences and Loci Under Selection in a Recently Expanded Coral Population

Coral poleward range expansions in response to warming oceans have been historically observed, however contemporary expansion rates of some coral species have become more rapid as global temperatures rise at unprecedented rates. Range expansion can lead to reduced genetic diversity and surfing of deleterious mutations in expanding populations, potentially limiting the ability for adaption and persistence in novel environments. Successful expansions that overcome these founder effects and colonize new habitat have been attributed to multiple introductions from different sources, hybridization with native populations, or rapid adaptive evolution. Here, we investigate population genomic patterns of the reef-building coral Acropora hyacinthus along a latitudinal cline that includes a well-established range expansion front in Japan using 2b-RAD sequencing. A total of 184 coral samples were collected across seven sites spanning from 24N to near its northern range front at 33N. We uncover the presence of three cryptic lineages of A. hyacinthus, which occupy discrete areas within this region. Only one lineage is present at the expansion front and we find evidence of its historical occupation of marginal habitats. Within this lineage we also find evidence of bottleneck pressures associated with expansion events including higher clonality, increased linkage disequilibrium, and lower genetic diversity in range edge populations compared to core populations. Asymmetric migration between populations was also detected with lower migration from edge sites. Lastly, we describe genomic signatures of local adaptation potentially attributed to lower winter temperatures experienced at the more recently expanded northern populations. Together these data illuminate the genomic consequences of range expansion in a coral and highlight how adaptation to colder temperatures along the expansion front may facilitate further range expansions in this coral lineage.

Identifier
Source https://data.blue-cloud.org/search-details?step=~012B0ACFEF716E77D52D794F09E9EA2BD71260DF97F
Metadata Access https://data.blue-cloud.org/api/collections/B0ACFEF716E77D52D794F09E9EA2BD71260DF97F
Provenance
Instrument Illumina HiSeq 2500; ILLUMINA
Publisher Blue-Cloud Data Discovery & Access service; ELIXIR-ENA
Publication Year 2024
OpenAccess true
Contact blue-cloud-support(at)maris.nl
Representation
Discipline Marine Science
Temporal Coverage Begin 2009-09-01T00:00:00Z
Temporal Coverage End 2016-06-01T00:00:00Z