Uncovering Spatio-Temporal and Treatment-Derived Differences in the Molecular Physiology of a Model Coral-Dinoflagellate Mutualism with Multivariate Statistical Approaches

In light of current global climate change forecasts, there is an urgent need to better understand how reef-building corals respond to changes in temperature. Multivariate statistical approaches (MSA), including principal components analysis and multidimensional scaling, were used herein to attempt to understand the response of the common, Indo-Pacific reef coral Seriatopora hystrix to temperature changes using data from laboratory-based temperature challenge studies performed in Southern Taiwan. S. hystrix and its dinoflagellate endosymbionts displayed physiological and molecular signatures that were characteristic of sampling time, site of colony origin, and/or temperature regime. Specifically, upon assessing a series of both host coral and Symbiodinium response variables, corals exposed to fluctuating temperatures were found to display greater variability in their physiological response than experimental controls incubated at stable temperatures. These findings further promote the utility of MSA for documenting biologically meaningful shifts in the physiological and/or sub-cellular response of marine invertebrates exposed to environmental change.