Project description:Thermal history plays a role in the response of corals to subsequent heat stress. Prior heat stress can have a profound impact on later thermal tolerance, but the mechanism for this plasticity is not clear. The understanding of gene expression changes behind physiological acclimatization is critical in forecasts of coral health in impending climate change scenarios. Acropora millepora fragments were preconditioned to sublethal bleaching threshold stress for a period of 10 days; this prestress conferred bleaching resistance in subsequent thermal challenge, in which non-preconditioned coral bleached. Using microarrays, we analyze the transcriptomes of the coral host, comparing the bleaching-resistant preconditioned treatment to non-preconditioned and control treatments.