Heat-Resistant Corals Provide Clues to Climate Change Survival

Daniel J. Barshis, ScienceDaily
Published on January 7, 2013
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130108091820.htm

Summary

Climate change poses a major threat to coral reefs around the globe. Over half of the world's coral has been killed by rising temperatures and factors related to human disturbance. However, some coral individuals have a mutation(s) that allows them to survive at higher water temperatures. Scientists have experimented on coral to find out how they survive in the wild at temperatures as high as 32°C (90°F). Researched analyzed coral animals' gene expression at varying water temperatures up to 35°C (95°F). The results showed that in the heat-resistant individuals, the 60 genes responsible for managing heat stress had been activated even before the coral was exposed to heat. Patterns such as these are allowing scientists to find out which individuals are most likely to survive climate change, which is instrumental to protecting them.

Relevance

This article employs genetics and evolution. It relates to our unit on genetics because the coral underwent a genetic mutation that permanently turned on the heat-stress genes. This was likely caused by a mutation in the repressor protein of the operon(s) that deals with the heat-stress gene, so it could not bind and prevent RNA polymerase from attaching. In terms of natural selection, the coral best suited to climate change (those with the heat-resistant mutation) will be most likely to survive. In addition, the heat resistance is an adaptation because it makes the coral better suited to warmer environments as ocean temperatures rise.