Genomic data ‘catches corals in the act’ of speciation and adaptation

A new study led by the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) revealed that diversity in Hawaiian corals is likely driven by co-evolution between the coral host, the algal symbiont, and the microbial community.

As coral reef ecosystems have rapidly collapsed around the globe over the past few decades, there is widespread concern that corals might not be able to adapt to changing climate conditions, and much of the biodiversity in these ecosystems could be lost before it is studied and understood. Coral reefs are among the most highly biodiverse ecosystems on earth, yet it is not clear what drives speciation and diversification in the ocean, where there are few physical barriers that could separate populations.

The team of researchers used massive amounts of metagenomic sequencing data to try to understand what may be some of the major drivers of adaptation and variation in corals.

“Corals have incredible variation with such a wide range of shapes, sizes, and colors that it’s really hard for even the best trained experts to be able to sort out different species,” said Zac Forsman, lead author of the study and HIMB assistant researcher. “On top of that, some corals lose their algal symbionts, turning stark white or ‘bleached’ and die during marine heatwaves, while a similar looking coral right next to it seems fine. We wanted to try to better understand what might be driving some of this incredible variation that you see on a typical coral reef.”

Read the full story from University of Hawai’i here.