[All-postdocs] Bioseminar - Zachary Tobias

[Ana M Velez]

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Biology Department Seminar
Thursday, August 17, 2023 - 12:00 Noon

Zachary Tobias
WHOI-MIT Joint Program Student
Geography and Developmental Plasticity Shape Post-Larval Thermal Tolerance in the Golden Star Tunicate, Botryllus schlosseri
Understanding how species cope with heat stress is critical to informing predictions of species persistence in a warming ocean and for designing interventions to promote thermal tolerance. Populations can vary in their thermal tolerance, chiefly shaped by genetics through local adaptation and the environment through phenotypic plasticity. Nonetheless, how local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity shape thermal tolerance in natural populations of marine organisms remains poorly understood. The invasive colonial tunicate Botryllus schlosseri has successfully colonized temperate coastlines around the globe, spanning a wide latitudinal gradient across which it experiences myriad temperature regimes. I am interested in understanding how B. schlosseri is able to thrive under such conditions and how local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity have shaped its thermal breadth. I will present the results of median temperature of 50% survival (LT50) experiments conducted in the summer of 2022 that demonstrate population-level variability of thermal tolerance in B. schlosseri post-larvae, suggesting the potential of local adaptation. Thermal tolerance within populations also varies across time, coincident with shifts in environmental temperature, indicating the presence of developmental plasticity. Lastly, the degree of developmental plasticity varied among populations, with those that experience more short-term temperature variability exhibiting greater levels of plasticity, consistent with local adaptation of phenotypic plasticity. By examining the response to heat stress across space and through time, I investigate the potential contributions of local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity to shaping thermal tolerance in a consequential marine invasive species, offering clues into the mechanisms underlying variation of thermal biology in the ocean more broadly.

HYBRID!  In person: Redfield Auditorium   Zoom: https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/j/91241396195 Meeting ID: 912 4139 6195 By phone: Find your local number: https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/u/aEfrN0fwI


For any questions, contact:

Ana María Vélez
Administrative Associate
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O: 508.289.2334
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