Work

Cool and warm conditions disrupt development through divergent mechanisms in larvae of the reef-building coral Orbicella faveolata

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Developing animals are sensitive to stressful abiotic environmental conditions, which can induce negative effects including disrupted developmental progression and mortality. Plasticity in physiology and gene expression can protect developing organisms from stressors, yet how this occurs remains unexplored for many taxa. Marine invertebrates are important species in which to investigate these mechanisms because these taxa are experiencing stressful conditions under climate change. For example, marine cold spells and heatwaves may threaten larvae of reef-building corals, yet the effects of such stressors on larvae remain largely uncharacterized. We hypothesized that exposure to cool and warm conditions would lead to decreased larval survival and settlement (i.e., the transition from pelagic larva to benthic settler), and tested this in the Caribbean coral Orbicella faveolata . Given the contrasting effects of cool and warm temperatures on cellular and organismal physiology, we further hypothesized that these conditions would affect O. faveolata larvae through distinct mechanisms, and explored this by characterizing the effects of temperature on larval gene expression profiles. Exposure to cool (20 °C) and warm (30 °C) temperatures led to decreased survival and settlement of O. faveolata larvae compared to larvae under ambient (27 °C) conditions. Further, reduced settlement capacity (i.e., mortality-corrected settlement) of surviving individuals indicated that negative effects on settlement were not solely due to increased mortality. Interestingly, despite similar phenotypic outcomes, cool and warm exposures had contrasting effects on gene expression profiles, suggesting that these conditions disrupt development through distinct mechanisms. Specifically, gene expression patterns suggested that cool conditions suppressed cell division and aerobic metabolism, whereas these processes increased under warm conditions, likely leading to depletion of cellular and metabolic resources that are limited due to these larvae being lecithotrophic (i.e., non-feeding). On the other hand, genes involved in neurotransmission and environmental sensing were generally downregulated in both treatments compared to ambient, suggesting a decreased ability of treated larvae to detect and/or respond to settlement cues. Overall, these findings demonstrate that environmental conditions shape gene expression patterns and developmental outcomes in O. faveolata , emphasizing that changing ocean temperatures will be detrimental to the persistence of this endangered species.

Source: BMC Genomics

DOI: 10.1186/s12864-026-13438-8

Authors: Benjamin H. Glass, Nicole D. Fogarty, Thomas D. Gilmore, Sarah W. Davies

Institutions: Boston University, University of North Carolina Wilmington

Language: English

Topic: Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies

Subfield: Ecology

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Life below water

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,090