Since 2014, corals within Florida’s Coral Reef have been dying at an unprecedented rate due to stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD). Here we describe the transcriptomic outcomes of three different SCTLD transmission experiments performed Smithsonian Marine Station and Mote Laboratory between 2019 2020 on Orbicella faveolata Montastraea cavernosa. Overall, diseased O. had 2194 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) compared with healthy colonies, whereas M. cavernosa 582 DEGs colonies. Many...

Drosophila and parasitic wasps in the genus Leptopilina have long been a model for understanding host-parasite interactions. Indeed, are important drivers of ecological evolutionary processes broadly, but we generally lacking information about diversity, natural history, evolution these relationships. We collected insects from Caribbean Island Saint Lucia, home to eastern 'dunni' subgroup Drosophila: clade appreciated its recent patterns speciation adaptation. Here present an integrative...

Abstract Pallas's cat, or the manul cat (Otocolobus manul), is a small felid native to grasslands and steppes of central Asia. Population strongholds in Mongolia China face growing challenges from climate change, habitat fragmentation, poaching, other sources. These threats, combined with O. manul’s zoo collection popularity value evolutionary biology, necessitate improvement species genomic resources. We used standalone nanopore sequencing assemble 2.5 Gb, 61-contig nuclear assembly 17097...

Ultraconserved noncoding elements (UCNEs) constitute less than 1 Mb of vertebrate genomes and are impervious to accumulating mutations. About 4000 UCNEs exist in genomes, each at least 200 nucleotides length, sharing greater 95% sequence identity between human chicken. Despite extreme conservation over 400 million years evolution, we show both ordered interspecies within-species interindividual variation DNA methylation these regions. Here, surveyed with high CpG density 56 species finding...

To better understand temperature's role in the interaction between local evolutionary adaptation and physiological plasticity, we investigated acclimation effects on metabolic performance thermal tolerance among natural Fundulus heteroclitus (small estuarine fish) populations from different environments. experience large daily seasonal temperature variations, as well mean differences across their geographical cline. In this study, use three populations: one locally heated (32°C) by effluence...

Metabolic rate is often measured as a phenotype in evolutionary genetics, among other fields including many facets of physiology, behavior, and ecology, because it impacts organismal fitness, repeatable heritable, responsive to numerous environmental variables. Aquatic respirometry, method used measure metabolic rate, has allowed key questions these be investigated, namely: 1) why do individuals from the same population exhibit up three fold differences 2) how does change during an...

Decitabine (5-aza-2'deoxycytidine; DAC) is a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor used to hypomethylate the epigenome. Current dosing regimens of DAC for use in mice vary widely and their hypomethylating ability has not been robustly characterized, despite reliable results hypomethylation epigenome with cell lines vitro tissue specificity vivo. We investigated effects on methylome gene expression within exposed chronic low doses ranging from 0 0.35 mg/kg over period 7 weeks without causing...

Abstract Variation in tissue-specific metabolism between species and among individuals is thought to be adaptively important; however, understanding this evolutionary relationship requires reliably measuring trait many individuals. In most higher organisms, tissue specificity important because different organs (heart, brain, liver, muscle) have unique ecologically adaptive roles. Current technology methodology for costly limited by throughput capacity efficiency. Presented here the design a...

Physiological trait variation underlies health, responses to global climate change, and ecological performance. Yet, most physiological traits are complex, we have little understanding of the genes genomic architectures that define their variation. To provide insight into genetic architecture processes, related heart brain mRNA expression using a weighted gene co-expression network analysis. was used explain in six (whole animal metabolism (WAM), critical thermal maximum (CTmax), four...

ABSTRACT Physiology defines individual responses to global climate change and species distributions across environments. Physiological are driven by temperature on three time scales: acute, acclimatory evolutionary. Acutely, passive effects often dictate an expected 2-fold increase in metabolic processes for every 10°C (Q10). Yet, these acute mitigated through acclimation within or evolutionary adaptation populations over time. Natural selection can influence both reduces interindividual...

Evolutionary processes driving physiological trait variation depend on the underlying genomic mechanisms. Evolution of these mechanisms depends genetic complexity (involving many genes) and how gene expression impacting traits is converted to phenotype. Yet, that impact are diverse context dependent (e.g., vary by environment tissues), making them difficult discern. We examine relationships between genotype, mRNA expression, discern whether affecting primarily cis- or trans-acting. use...

ABSTRACT Pallas’s cat, or the manul cat ( Otocolobus ), is a small felid native to grasslands and steppes of central Asia. Population strongholds in Mongolia China face growing challenges from climate change, habitat fragmentation, poaching, other sources. These threats, combined with O. ’s zoo collection popularity value evolutionary biology, necessitate improvement species genomic resources. We used standalone nanopore sequencing assemble 2.5 Gb, 61-contig nuclear assembly 17,097 bp...

Abstract The Gulf toadfish, Opsanus beta , within the family Batrachoididae, plays an important role ecologically and as a comparative research model. Only 4 genome assemblies are available for Batrachoids, with three being highly fragmentary not up to current assembly standards. Here we present new, de novo transcriptome toadfish using PacBio long read technology. final is among largest teleost genomes at 2.1 gigabases. This new improves significantly upon currently reference scaffold count...

The family Batrachoididae are a group of ecologically important teleost fishes with unique life histories, behavior, and physiology that has made them popular model organisms. remain understudied in the realm genomics, only four reference genome assemblies available for family, three being highly fragmented not up to current assembly standards. Among these is Gulf toadfish, Opsanus beta, organism serotonin which recently been bred captivity.

A bstract Metabolic rate is often measured as a phenotype in evolutionary genetics studies because it impacts organismal fitness, repeatable and heritable, responsive to numerous environmental variables. Despite wide body of literature about metabolic rates, key questions remain unanswered: 1) why do individuals from the same population exhibit up three fold differences rate, 2) how does change during an individual’s lifetime, 3) what advantageous specific environment? Current low throughput...

Abstract Genetic data from nonmodel species can inform ecology and physiology, giving insight into a species’ distribution abundance as well their responses to changing environments, all of which are important for conservation management. Moreover, reduced sequencing costs improved long-read technology allows researchers readily generate genomic resources species. Here, we apply Oxford Nanopore low-coverage (∼1x) whole genome short-read (Illumina) assemble examine population genetics an...

A bstract Evolutionary processes driving physiological trait variation depend on the underlying genomic mechanisms. Evolution of these mechanisms depends whether traits are genetically complex (involving many genes) and how gene expression that impact is converted to phenotype. Yet, diverse context dependent ( e . g ., vary by environment or among tissues), making them difficult discern. Here we examine relationships between genotype, mRNA expression, discern genetic complexity effecting...

Abstract Natural selection relentlessly reshapes the genetic and phenotypic composition of populations, yet often adaptations cannot emerge due to excessive migration gene flow. Nevertheless, in heterogeneous habitats strong could temporarily establish significant trait divergence among environmental patches. Here, we show that Fundulus heteroclitus, a single generation drives (5-15%) organismal metabolic rate, cardiac rate hypoxia tolerance. This occurs individuals same panmictic population...

Abstract Quantifying mRNA expression, which is heritable and physiologically inducible, reveals biologically important networks pathways underlying complex traits. Here, we quantify expression in Fundulus heteroclitus , a small teleost fish, among three populations acclimated to 12°C 28°C relate it variation six, complex, physiological traits (whole animal metabolism (WAM), critical thermal maximum (CT max ), four substrate specific cardiac metabolic rates (CaM)). Although 366 heart mRNAs...