据一项新的研究披露，多孔鹿角珊瑚是一种造礁珊瑚，它可通过DNA将其对热的耐受性传递给其下一代。这一发现表明，某些珊瑚可利用一种被称作“遗传营救”的演化过程，而这些物种可能会在适应全球暖化时比研究人员想象的要容易一些。Groves Dixon和同事将来自澳大利亚的纬度相差5度的两处地方(即夏洛特公主湾和奥费斯岛)的多孔鹿角珊瑚进行杂交。他们将这些珊瑚的幼虫长时间地暴露于不断增加的温度，并接着对存活下来的珊瑚幼虫进行基因分析。他们的结果显示，来自夏洛特公主湾的较耐热珊瑚的幼体会比来自奥费斯岛的较不耐热珊瑚幼体在接触热时存活的可能性高10倍。此外，Dixon和其它研究人员显示，当来自夏洛特公主湾的珊瑚与奥费斯岛的珊瑚进行杂交时，它们能将其耐热性传递给其后代。研究人员在这些珊瑚的基因表达中发现了差异，而这些差异似乎可被遗传，且它们与耐热性有关。他们的发现表明，珊瑚对温度的耐受(随着纬度而变)可在代间遗传，而该处于遥远地区的珊瑚种群并非只是简单地适应其各自不同的环境。

    原文标题：Genomic determinants of coral heat tolerance across latitudes

    As global warming continues, reef-building corals could avoid local population declines through “genetic rescue” involving exchange of heat-tolerant genotypes across latitudes, but only if latitudinal variation in thermal tolerance is heritable. Here, we show an up–to–10-fold increase in odds of survival of coral larvae under heat stress when their parents come from a warmer lower-latitude location. Elevated thermal tolerance was associated with heritable differences in expression of oxidative, extracellular, transport, and mitochondrial functions that indicated a lack of prior stress. Moreover, two genomic regions strongly responded to selection for thermal tolerance in interlatitudinal crosses. These results demonstrate that variation in coral thermal tolerance across latitudes has a strong genetic basis and could serve as raw material for natural selection.