Publication Date:
2024-03-15
Description:
Ocean acidification (OA) is increasing due to anthropogenic CO2 emissions, and poses a threat to marine species and communities worldwide. To better project the effects of acidification on organisms' health and persistence an understanding is needed of (1) the mechanisms underlying developmental and physiological tolerance, and (2) the potential populations have for rapid evolutionary adaptation. This is especially challenging in non-model species where targeted assays of metabolism and stress physiology may not be available or economical for large-scale assessments of genetic constraints. We used mRNA sequencing and a quantitative genetics breeding design to study mechanisms underlying genetic variability and tolerance to decreased seawater pH (-0.4 pH units) in larvae of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis. We used a gene ontology-based approach to integrate expression profiles into indirect measures of cellular and biochemical traits underlying variation in larval performance (i.e., growth rates). Molecular responses to OA were complex, involving changes to several functions such as growth rates, cell division, metabolism, and immune activities. Surprisingly, the magnitude of pH effects on molecular traits tended to be small relative to variation attributable to segregating functional genetic variation in this species. We discuss how the application of transcriptomics and quantitative genetics approaches across diverse species can enrich our understanding of the biological impacts of climate change.
Keywords:
Alkalinity, total; Alkalinity, total, standard deviation; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Aragonite saturation state, standard deviation; Bicarbonate ion; Bicarbonate ion, standard deviation; Bottles or small containers/Aquaria (〈20 L); Calcite saturation state; Calcite saturation state, standard deviation; Calculated using seacarb; 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; Colorimetric; Echinodermata; EXP; Experiment; 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; Hammerfest; Identification; Laboratory experiment; Larvae, alive; Mortality/Survival; North Atlantic; northern_Denmark; 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; Polar; Potentiometric; Salinity; Single species; Site; Species, unique identification; Species, unique identification (Semantic URI); Species, unique identification (URI); Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis; Temperate; Temperature, water; Temperature, water, standard deviation; Treatment; Type of study; Zooplankton
Type:
Dataset
Format:
text/tab-separated-values, 1680 data points
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