ALBERT

Description: © The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in PLoS ONE 12 (2017): e0184849, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0184849.

Description: Diatoms are important components of marine ecosystems and contribute greatly to the world's primary production. Despite their important roles in ecosystems, the molecular basis of how diatoms cope with oxidative stress caused by nutrient fluctuations remains largely unknown. Here, an isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) proteomic method was coupled with a series of physiological and biochemical techniques to explore oxidative stress- and cell fate decision-related cellular and metabolic responses of the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana to nitrate (N) and inorganic phosphate (P) stresses. A total of 1151 proteins were detected; 122 and 56 were significantly differentially expressed from control under N- and P-limited conditions, respectively. In N-limited cells, responsive proteins were related to reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, oxidative stress responses and cell death, corresponding to a significant decrease in photosynthetic efficiency, marked intracellular ROS accumulation, and caspase-mediated programmed cell death activation. None of these responses were identified in P-limited cells; however, a significant up-regulation of alkaline phosphatase proteins was observed, which could be the major contributor for P-limited cells to cope with ambient P deficiency. These findings demonstrate that fundamentally different metabolic responses and cellular regulations are employed by the diatom in response to different nutrient stresses and to keep the cells viable.

Description: This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41576138, 41076080, 41576138) to Dr. Jun-Rong Liang; the Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health, National Science Foundation (OCE-1314642) to Dr. DonaldM Anderson; the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (1-P01-ES021923- 01) to Dr. DonaldM Anderson; and the ERC Advanced Award Diatomite and ANR project DiaDomOil to Dr. Chris Bowler.

Description: © The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in PLoS ONE 11 (2016): e0155049, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0155049.

Description: Many reefs have shifted from coral and fish dominated habitats to less productive macroalgal dominated habitats, and current research is investigating means of reversing this phase shift. In the tropical Pacific, overfished reefs with inadequate herbivory can become dominated by the brown alga Sargassum polycystum. This alga suppresses recruitment and survival of corals and fishes, thus limiting the potential for reef recovery. Here we investigate the mechanisms that reinforce S. polycystum dominance and show that in addition to negatively affecting other species, this species acts in a self-reinforcing manner, positively promoting survival and growth of conspecifics. We found that survival and growth of both recruit-sized and mature S. polycystum fronds were higher within Sargassum beds than outside the beds and these results were found in both protected and fished reefs. Much of this benefit resulted from reduced herbivory within the Sargassum beds, but adult fronds also grew ~50% more within the beds even when herbivory did not appear to be occurring, suggesting some physiological advantage despite the intraspecific crowding. Thus via positive feedbacks, S. polycystum enhances its own growth and resistance to herbivores, facilitating its dominance (perhaps also expansion) and thus its resilience on degraded reefs. This may be a key feedback mechanism suppressing the recovery of coral communities in reefs dominated by macroalgal beds.

Description: Financial support came to MEH from the National Science Foundation (OCE 0929119), the National Institutes of Health (2 U19 TW007401-10), and the Teasley Endowment to the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Description: © The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in PLoS One 12 (2017): e0188257, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0188257.

Description: Preservation of three-dimensional structure in the gut is necessary in order to analyze the spatial organization of the gut microbiota and gut luminal contents. In this study, we evaluated preparation methods for mouse gut with the goal of preserving micron-scale spatial structure while performing fluorescence imaging assays. Our evaluation of embedding methods showed that commonly used media such as Tissue-Tek Optimal Cutting Temperature (OCT) compound, paraffin, and polyester waxes resulted in redistribution of luminal contents. By contrast, a hydrophilic methacrylate resin, Technovit H8100, preserved three-dimensional organization. Our mouse intestinal preparation protocol optimized using the Technovit H8100 embedding method was compatible with microbial fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and other labeling techniques, including immunostaining and staining with both wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) and 4', 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). Mucus could be visualized whether the sample was fixed with paraformaldehyde (PFA) or with Carnoy’s fixative. The protocol optimized in this study enabled simultaneous visualization of micron-scale spatial patterns formed by microbial cells in the mouse intestines along with biogeographical landmarks such as host-derived mucus and food particles.

Description: Funding provided by National Science Foundation (www.nsf.gov) grant 1650141 to J.L.M.W. and National Institutes of Health National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (www.nidcr.nih.gov) grant DE022586 to G.G.B.

Description: This is an open access article, free of all copyright. The definitive version was published in PLoS ONE 12 (2017): e0172839, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0172839.

Description: Marine animals, such as turtles, seabirds and pelagic fishes, are observed to travel and congregate around eddies in the open ocean. Mesoscale eddies, large swirling ocean vortices with radius scales of approximately 50–100 km, provide environmental variability that can structure these populations. In this study, we investigate the use of mesoscale eddies by 24 individual juvenile loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence region. The influence of eddies on turtles is assessed by collocating the turtle trajectories to the tracks of mesoscale eddies identified in maps of sea level anomaly. Juvenile loggerhead sea turtles are significantly more likely to be located in the interiors of anticyclones in this region. The distribution of surface drifters in eddy interiors reveals no significant association with the interiors of cyclones or anticyclones, suggesting higher prevalence of turtles in anticyclones is a result of their behavior. In the southern portion of the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence region, turtle swimming speed is significantly slower in the interiors of anticyclones, when compared to the periphery, suggesting that these turtles are possibly feeding on prey items associated with anomalously low near-surface chlorophyll concentrations observed in those features.

Description: A Woods Hole Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded to PG and NASA grant NNX13AE47G funded this work. CB is grateful for support from NOAA and the NSF-GRFP (Grant No. 1314109). DJM gratefully acknowledges support from NASA and NSF.

Description: This is an open access article, free of all copyright. The definitive version was published in PLoS ONE 12 (2017): e0170962, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0170962.

Description: Bio-logging tags are an important tool for the study of cetaceans, but superficial tags inevitably increase hydrodynamic loading. Substantial forces can be generated by tags on fast-swimming animals, potentially affecting behavior and energetics or promoting early tag removal. Streamlined forms have been used to reduce loading, but these designs can accelerate flow over the top of the tag. This non-axisymmetric flow results in large lift forces (normal to the animal) that become the dominant force component at high speeds. In order to reduce lift and minimize total hydrodynamic loading this work presents a new tag design (Model A) that incorporates a hydrodynamic body, a channel to reduce fluid speed differences above and below the housing and wing to redirect flow to counter lift. Additionally, three derivatives of the Model A design were used to examine the contribution of individual flow control features to overall performance. Hydrodynamic loadings of four models were compared using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The Model A design eliminated all lift force and generated up to ~30 N of downward force in simulated 6 m/s aligned flow. The simulations were validated using particle image velocimetry (PIV) to experimentally characterize the flow around the tag design. The results of these experiments confirm the trends predicted by the simulations and demonstrate the potential benefit of flow control elements for the reduction of tag induced forces on the animal.

Description: This project was funded by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program [National Science Foundation via the Office of Naval Research N00014-11-1-0113]. C. Spencer Garborg was supported by a Grove City College Swezey Student Fellowship to Erik Anderson. Mark Johnson was funded by a Marie Curie-Sklodowska grant from the European Union.

Description: © The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in PLoS ONE 12 (2017): e0186156, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0186156.

Description: Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) have a nearly circumpolar distribution, and occasionally occupy warmer shallow coastal areas during summertime that may facilitate molting. However, relatively little is known about the occurrence of molting and associated behaviors in bowhead whales. We opportunistically observed whales in Cumberland Sound, Nunavut, Canada with skin irregularities consistent with molting during August 2014, and collected a skin sample from a biopsied whale that revealed loose epidermis and sloughing. During August 2016, we flew a small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) over whales to take video and still images to: 1) determine unique individuals; 2) estimate the proportion of the body of unique individuals that exhibited sloughing skin; 3) determine the presence or absence of superficial lines representative of rock-rubbing behavior; and 4) measure body lengths to infer age-class. The still images revealed that all individuals (n = 81 whales) were sloughing skin, and that nearly 40% of them had mottled skin over more than two-thirds of their bodies. The video images captured bowhead whales rubbing on large rocks in shallow, coastal areas—likely to facilitate molting. Molting and rock rubbing appears to be pervasive during late summer for whales in the eastern Canadian Arctic.

Description: Fieldwork was funded by: Fisheries and Oceans Canada (Emerging Fisheries 41436-810-120-4D875), Nunavut Wildlife Research Trust Fund (project 3-13-29 Bowhead Whale Movement's and Ecology), Molson Foundation (318366), Ocean Tracking Network (NSERC NETGP 375118-08), and ArcticNet Centre of Excellence (317588) awarded to S.H. Ferguson and World Wildlife Fund Canada (Arctic Species Conservation Fund) awarded to W.R. Koski and S.M.E. Fortune. Additional field work support was provided by: U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service (MMS; now Bureau of Ocean Energy Management), through Inter-agency Agreement No. M08PG20021 with the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as part of the MMS Alaska Environmental Studies Program awarded to M.F. Baumgartner. Personnel support was provided by: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Canadian Graduate Scholarship, the W. Garfield Weston Award for Northern Research, University of British Columbia Affiliated Fellowship and Northern Scientific Training Program (Canadian Polar Commission) awarded to S.M.E. Fortune

Description: © The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in PLoS One 12 (2017): e0173350, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0173350.

Description: Scleractinian coral are experiencing unprecedented rates of mortality due to increases in sea surface temperatures in response to global climate change. Some coral species however, survive high temperature events due to a reduced susceptibility to bleaching. We investigated the relationship between bleaching susceptibility and expression of five metabolically related genes of Symbiodinium spp. from the coral Porites astreoides originating from an inshore and offshore reef in the Florida Keys. The acclimatization potential of Symbiodinium spp. to changing temperature regimes was also measured via a two-year reciprocal transplant between the sites. Offshore coral fragments displayed significantly higher expression in Symbiodinium spp. genes PCNA, SCP2, G3PDH, PCP and psaE than their inshore counterparts (p〈0.05), a pattern consistent with increased bleaching susceptibility in offshore corals. Additionally, gene expression patterns in Symbiodinium spp. from site of origin were conserved throughout the two-year reciprocal transplant, indicating acclimatization did not occur within this multi-season time frame. Further, laboratory experiments were used to investigate the influence of acute high temperature (32°C for eight hours) and disease (lipopolysaccharide of Serratia marcescens) on the five metabolically related symbiont genes from the same offshore and inshore P. astreoides fragments. Gene expression did not differ between reef fragments, or as a consequence of acute exposure to heat or heat and disease, contrasting to results found in the field. Gene expression reported here indicates functional variation in populations of Symbiodinium spp. associated with P. astreoides in the Florida Keys, and is likely a result of localized adaptation. However, gene expression patterns observed in the lab imply that functional variation in zooxanthellae observed under conditions of chronic moderate stress is lost under the acute extreme conditions studied here.

Description: Funding for this research was provided by Coastal Preservation network (KBS, BHS).

Description: © The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in PLoS One 12 (2017): e0179318, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179318.

Description: Trace metals are essential for health but toxic when present in excess. The maintenance of trace metals at physiologic levels reflects both import and export by cells and absorption and excretion by organs. The mechanism by which this maintenance is achieved in vertebrate organisms is incompletely understood. To explore this, we chose zebrafish as our model organism, as they are amenable to both pharmacologic and genetic manipulation and comprise an ideal system for genetic screens and toxicological studies. To characterize trace metal content in developing zebrafish, we measured levels of three trace elements, copper, zinc, and manganese, from the oocyte stage to 30 days post-fertilization using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Our results indicate that metal levels are stable until zebrafish can acquire metals from the environment and imply that the early embryo relies on maternal contribution of metals to the oocyte. We also measured metal levels in bodies and yolks of embryos reared in presence and absence of the copper chelator neocuproine. All three metals exhibited different relative abundances between yolks and bodies of embryos. While neocuproine treatment led to an expected phenotype of copper deficiency, total copper levels were unaffected, indicating that measurement of total metal levels does not equate with measurement of biologically active metal levels. Overall, our data not only can be used in the design and execution of genetic, physiologic, and toxicologic studies but also has implications for the understanding of vertebrate metal homeostasis.

Description: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, R00 DK84122.

Description: In the eastern tropical Atlantic, the orangeback flying squid Sthenoteuthis pteropus (Steenstrup 1855) (Cephalopoda, Ommastrephidae) is a dominant species of the epipelagic nekton community. This carnivore squid has a short lifespan and is one of the fastest-growing squids. In this study, we characterise the role of S. pteropus in the pelagic food web of the eastern tropical Atlantic by investigating its diet and the dynamics of its feeding habits throughout its ontogeny and migration. During three expeditions in the eastern tropical Atlantic in 2015, 129 specimens were caught by hand jigging. Stomach content analyses (via visual identification and DNA barcoding) were combined with stable isotope data (∂15N and ∂13C) of muscle tissue to describe diet, feeding habits and trophic ecology of S. pteropus. Additionally, stable isotope analyses of incremental samples along the squid’s gladius—the chitinous spiniform structure supporting the muscles and organs—were carried out to explore possible diet shifts through ontogeny and migration. Our results show that S. pteropus preys mainly on myctophid fishes (e.g. Myctophum asperum, Myctophum nitidulum, Vinciguerria spp.), but also on other teleost species, cephalopods (e.g. Enoploteuthidae, Bolitinidae, Ommastrephidae), crustaceans and possibly on gelatinous zooplankton as well. The squid shows a highly opportunistic feeding behaviour that includes cannibalism. Our study indicates that the trophic position of S. pteropus may increase by approximately one trophic level from a mantle length of 15 cm to 47 cm. The reconstructed isotope-based feeding chronologies of the gladii revealed high intra- and inter-individual variability in the squid’s trophic position and foraging area. These findings are not revealed by diet or muscle tissue stable isotope analysis. This suggests a variable and complex life history involving individual variation and migration. The role of S. pteropus in transferring energy and nutrients from lower to higher trophic levels may be underestimated and important for understanding how a changing ocean impacts food webs in the eastern Atlantic.

Description: Concentrations of heme b were determined in a mesocosm experiment situated in Gullmar Fjord off Sweden. The mesocosm experiment lasted for ca. one hundred days and was characterised by the growth of a primary nutrient replete and a secondary nutrient deplete phytoplankton bloom. Heme b varied between 40 ± 10 pmol L-1 in the prebloom period up to a maximum of 700 ± 400 pmol L-1 just prior to the time of the primary chlorophyll a maximum. Thereafter, heme b concentrations decreased again to an average of 120 ± 60 pmol L-1. When normalised to total particulate carbon, heme b was most abundant during the initiation of the nutrient replete spring bloom, when ratios reached 52 ± 24 μmol mol-1; ten times higher than values observed both pre and post the primary bloom. Concentrations of heme b correlated with those of chlorophyll a. Nevertheless, differences were observed in the relative concentrations of the two parameters, with heme b concentrations increasing relative to chlorophyll a during the growth of the primary bloom, decreasing over the period of the secondary bloom and increasing again through the latter period of the experiment. Heme b abundance was therefore influenced by nutrient concentrations and also likely by changing community composition. In half of the mesocosms, pCO2 was elevated and maintained at ca.1000 μatm, however we observed no significant differences between heme b in plus or ambient pCO2 mesocosms, either in absolute terms, or relative to total particulate carbon and chlorophyll a. The results obtained in this study contribute to our understanding of the distribution of this significant component of the biogenic iron pool, and provide an iron replete coastal water end member that aids the interpretation of the distributions of heme b in more iron deplete open ocean waters.