Developmental and heat–responsive transcriptional dynamics in Acropora tersa larvae (RRAP_ECT2.1; Year 2)

Updated: 2026-10-22

This data was collected as part of the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP) Year 2 heat stress experiment on Acropora tersa (formerly Acropora hyacinthus "neat") larvae that was run between 28 November 2021 - 09 December 2021 to further our understanding about the potential benefits of using thermal history provenancing-informed selective breeding to generated offspring with enhanced resilience. Early life stages of reef-building corals are critical for population persistence and restoration efforts. Here, we present the first transcriptome-wide assessment of heat stress responses in larvae of the Acropora tersa morphotype, combining developmental and stress-responsive transcriptional dynamics. Using larvae derived from within- and between-reef crosses, we analysed transcriptional responses across two distinct analytical subsets: (1) weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was applied to characterise developmental progression under non-stress conditions and (2) complementary differential expression (DE) and WGCNA approaches were used to identify heat stress response signatures under elevated temperature conditions. WGCNA on unstressed larvae identified five putative “timestamp” genes that tracked larval age independent of treatment. Analyses of ambient and heat stressed larvae revealed a functionally conserved transcriptional response consistent with the Type A General Coral Stress Response. Functional enrichment patterns were concordant across WGCNA and DE approaches, highlighting the stress response signal strength. Gene-level DE analyses revealed overlap with genotype-independent heat-responsive genes in A. tersa recruits.