Non-coding RNA Repertoire in Reef-Building Corals

Abstract

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) play critical regulatory roles in gene expression regulation that influences diverse biological processes in response to environmental change. Yet their characterization in non-model organisms, particularly sessile, benthic ecosystem engineers such as reef-building corals that are sensitive to climate change, remains limited. This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of the ncRNA repertoire of species from three ecologically important coral genera from Moorea, French Polynesia: Acropora pulchra, Pocillopora tuahiniensis, and Porites evermanni. These species demonstrate differing symbiotic partners, life history strategies, and physiological traits, offering a broad framework for documenting ncRNA variation in corals. We identified homologs for ncRNA biogenesis and functional machinery, characterized long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs), and piwiRNAs (piRNAs), and assessed their genomic context and potential targets. Our findings reveal the presence of conserved ncRNA machinery across these coral species, indicating their capability to generate and utilize ncRNAs for the regulation of gene expression. We identified only a single miRNA conserved with corals and Eumetazoans (miR-100), four miRNAs shared across all three species, previously identified in other cnidarian taxa (miR-100, miR-2023, miR-2025, miR-2036), as well as several species-specific miRNAs. Predicted gene targets of the characterized miRNAs included immune response regulation in A. pulchra and P. tuahiniensis and signal transduction pathways in P. evermanni and P. tuahiniensis. Proximity analysis indicated >71-99% of piRNAs overlapped with genes, with genomic maintenance and stability identified as the primary functional enrichment of those genes. Our characterization of lncRNAs found little sequence overlap across each species (<2%), although lncRNAs in all three species were often in proximity to immune-related genes. This study lays the groundwork for the repertoire and regulatory roles of ncRNAs in reef-building corals, thereby expanding our understanding of epigenetic regulation in environmentally sensitive marine invertebrates and its potential implications in acclimatization and adaptation to environmental change.