The health of our oceans is under great threat and the changes caused by human impact are manifested on a global level, with some of those changes being ocean acidification and sea temperature rise. In order to obtain a better understanding of evolutionary capacities of reef-related organisms to respond to these stressors, research was conducted on a sponge species Ircinia ramosa, whose specimens have been exposed to current and future climate conditions at the National Sea Simulator (SeaSim) at AIMS. The main objective of the thesis was to determine symbiont gene expression profiles and analyze microbiome response to the IPCC forecasted future climate scenarios for the 21 st century (years 2050 and 2100). In particular, we investigated molecular acclimatization mechanisms by assessing whether previous exposure to stressors “primes” or “conditions” the sponge microbiome when re-exposed to stress conditions. This enabled us to investigate to what extent these microorganisms may be conditioned to adapt to a changing climate. Our results suggest that I. ramosa has an increased capacity to resist climate change, as we observed that pre-exposure to stress primes a resistance to changing climate. These findings suggest that I. ramosa may be able to acclimatize to climate change, meaning that this species could be a ‘winner’ in future oceans.
Managing Thesis and Internship Exchanges
