Publication Date:
2024-03-15
Description:
Rising atmospheric CO2 reduces seawater pH causing ocean acidification (OA). Understanding how resilient marine organisms respond to OA may help predict how community dynamics will shift as CO2 continues rising. The common slipper shell snail Crepidula fornicata is a marine gastropod native to eastern North America that has been a successful invader along the western European coastline and elsewhere. It has also been previously shown to be resilient to global change stressors. To examine the mechanisms underlying C. fornicata's resilience to OA, we conducted two controlled laboratory experiments. First, we examined several phenotypes and genome-wide gene expression of C. fornicata in response to pH treatments (7.5, 7.6, and 8.0) throughout the larval stage and then tested how conditions experienced as larvae influenced juvenile stages (i.e., carry-over effects). Second, we examined genome-wide gene expression patterns of C. fornicata larvae in response to acute (4, 10, 24, and 48 h) pH treatment (7.5 and 8.0). Both C. fornicata larvae and juveniles exhibited resilience to OA and their gene expression responses highlight the role of transcriptome plasticity in this resilience. Larvae did not exhibit reduced growth under OA until they were at least 8 days old. These phenotypic effects were preceded by broad transcriptomic changes, which likely served as an acclimation mechanism for combating reduced pH conditions frequently experienced in littoral zones. Larvae reared in reduced pH conditions also took longer to become competent to metamorphose. In addition, while juvenile sizes at metamorphosis reflected larval rearing pH conditions, no carry-over effects on juvenile growth rates were observed. Transcriptomic analyses suggest increased metabolism under OA, which may indicate compensation in reduced pH environments. Transcriptomic analyses through time suggest that these energetic burdens experienced under OA eventually dissipate, allowing C. fornicata to reduce metabolic demands and acclimate to reduced pH. Carry-over effects from larval OA conditions were observed in juveniles; however, these effects were larger for more severe OA conditions and larvae reared in those conditions also demonstrated less transcriptome elasticity. This study highlights the importance of assessing the effects of OA across life history stages and demonstrates how transcriptomic plasticity may allow highly resilient organisms, like C. fornicata, to acclimate to reduced pH environments.
Keywords:
Alkalinity, total; Alkalinity, total, standard deviation; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Aragonite saturation state, standard deviation; Benthic animals; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Bicarbonate ion, standard deviation; Bottles or small containers/Aquaria (〈20 L); Calcite saturation state; Calcite saturation state, standard deviation; Calculated using CO2SYS; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Calculated using seacarb after Orr et al. (2018); Carbon, inorganic, dissolved; Carbon, inorganic, dissolved, standard deviation; Carbonate ion; Carbonate ion, standard deviation; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Carbon dioxide, standard deviation; Coast and continental shelf; Crepidula fornicata; Day of experiment; Development; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Fugacity of carbon dioxide in seawater, standard deviation; Gene expression (incl. proteomics); Growth/Morphology; Growth rate; Laboratory experiment; Mollusca; North Pacific; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide, standard deviation; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Pelagos; pH; pH, standard deviation; Potentiometric; Potentiometric titration; Proportion; Registration number of species; Salinity; Salinity, standard deviation; Shell length; Single species; Species; Stage; Temperate; Temperature, water; Temperature, water, standard deviation; Treatment; Type; Uniform resource locator/link to reference; Zooplankton
Type:
Dataset
Format:
text/tab-separated-values, 5376 data points
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