Genomics Commons^™

Epigenetic Mechanisms As Drivers Of Environmental Responses In Stony Corals, Javier A. Rodriguez Casariego

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current pace of anthropogenic global change is imposing unprecedented conditions to biological systems. Coral reef ecosystems are particularly sensitive to the rapid increase in thermal anomalies and the changes in water chemistry caused by global change. However, although their decline has been documented worldwide, there are signs suggesting that stony corals harbor greater phenotypic plasticity than previously expected, sparking the interest in the study acquired non-genetic modifications (e.g., epigenome, microbiome) potentially increasing their resilience to global change, and constituting one of the main targets for intervention.

Epigenetics constitutes an exciting frontier to understand how the environment influences the regulation …