Widely rhythmic transcriptome in Calanus finmarchicus during the high Arctic summer solstice period

• Published in: iScience
• Main Authors: Payton, Laura, Hüppe, Lukas, Noirot, Céline, Hoede, Claire, Last, Kim, Wilcockson, David, Ershova, Elizaveta, Valière, Sophie, Meyer, Bettina
• Other Authors: Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), University of Oldenburg, Unité de Mathématiques et Informatique Appliquées de Toulouse (MIAT INRA), Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), Aberystwyth University, The Arctic University of Norway (UiT), P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology (SIO), Russian Academy of Sciences Moscow (RAS), Génome et Transcriptome - Plateforme Génomique ( GeT-PlaGe), Plateforme Génome & Transcriptome (GET), Génopole Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées Auzeville (GENOTOUL), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Toulouse (INSA Toulouse), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse (ENVT), Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Toulouse (INSA Toulouse), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Génopole Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées Auzeville (GENOTOUL), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: Microbiology; Systems Biology; Transcriptomics; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Arctic; Calanus finmarchicus; Sea ice; Zooplankton; midnight sun
• Online Access: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03414451; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2020.101927

International audience Solar light/dark cycles and seasonal photoperiods underpin daily and annual rhythms of life on Earth. Yet, the Arctic is characterized by several months of permanent illumination ("midnight sun"). To determine the persistence of 24h rhythms during the midnight sun, we investigated transcriptomic dynamics in the copepod Calanus finmarchicus during the summer solstice period in the Arctic, with the lowest diel oscillation and the highest altitude of the sun's position. Here we reveal that in these extreme photic conditions, a widely rhythmic daily transcriptome exists, showing that very weak solar cues are sufficient to entrain organisms. Furthermore, at extremely high latitudes and under sea-ice, gene oscillations become re-organized to include <24h rhythms. Environmental synchronization may therefore be modulated to include non-photic signals (i.e. tidal cycles). The ability of zooplankton to be synchronized by extremely weak diel and potentially tidal cycles, may confer an adaptive temporal reorganization of biological processes at high latitudes.