García Francisca C, Osman Eslam O, Garcias-Bonet Neus, Delgadillo-Ordoñez Nathalia, Santoro Erika P, Raimundo Inês, Villela Helena D M, Voolstra Christian R, Peixoto Raquel S
Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
Commun Biol. 2024 Dec 19;7(1):1680. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-07340-w.
Coral thermotolerance research has focused on the ability of coral holobionts to maximize withstanding thermal stress exposure. Yet, it's unclear whether thermal thresholds adjust across seasons or remain constant for a given species and location. Here, we assessed the thermal tolerance thresholds over time spanning the annual temperature variation in the Red Sea for Pocillopora verrucosa and Acropora spp. colonies. Utilizing the Coral Bleaching Automated Stress System (CBASS), we conducted standardized acute thermal assays by exposing corals to a range of temperatures (30 to 39 °C) and measuring their photosynthetic efficiency (F/F). Our results reveal species-specific thermal tolerance patterns. P. verrucosa exhibited significant seasonal changes in their thermal thresholds of around 3 °C, while Acropora spp. remained rather stable, showing changes of around 1 °C between seasons. Our work shows that thermal thresholds can vary with seasonal temperature fluctuations, suggesting that coral species may acclimate to these natural temperature hanges over short periods in a species-specific manner.
珊瑚耐热性研究主要聚焦于珊瑚共生体最大程度承受热应激暴露的能力。然而，尚不清楚热阈值在不同季节是否会调整，还是对于特定物种和地点保持不变。在此，我们评估了红海疣状鹿角珊瑚和鹿角珊瑚属群体在跨越年度温度变化的时间段内的耐热阈值。利用珊瑚白化自动应激系统（CBASS），我们通过将珊瑚暴露于一系列温度（30至39°C）并测量其光合效率（F/F），进行了标准化的急性热试验。我们的结果揭示了物种特异性的耐热模式。疣状鹿角珊瑚的热阈值表现出约3°C的显著季节性变化，而鹿角珊瑚属则保持相对稳定，季节间变化约为1°C。我们的研究表明，热阈值会随季节温度波动而变化，这表明珊瑚物种可能会以物种特异性的方式在短时间内适应这些自然温度变化。
