Ocean acidification effects on the stress response in a calcifying antarctic coastal organism: The case of Nacella concinna ecotypes

• Published in: Marine Pollution Bulletin
• Main Authors: De Aranzamendi, M.C., Servetto, N. (Natalia), Movilla-Martín, J. (Juancho), Bettencourt, R. (Raúl), Sahade, R. (Ricardo)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier BV 2021
• Subjects: Antarctica; Coastal Antarctic ecosystem; Ecotypes; Gene expression levels; Nacella concinna; Ocean acidification; Antarctic; Nacella; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10508/15238; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112218

Ocean acidification (OA) could become a serious threat for theAntarctic marine ecosystem over coming years, as the solubility of atmosphericCO2 and CaCO3 minerals increases at lower temperatures.We evaluated the effect of OA on the stress response of the limpet Nacella concinna by measuring geneexpression levels. The experiment was performed with the two ecotypes (Littoraland Sublittoral) of the species during 54 days (IPCC 2019 scenario RCP8.5; control, ~375 ppm;low-pH treatment, ~923 ppm). Exposure to low-pH treatment during 15 days triggered thedown-regulation of two heat-shock protein genes (HSP70A, HSP70B) only in sublittoralindividuals. Little variation in the relative expression values of all genes in both ecotypes was observed probably,due to a historicalexposure to the substantial daily naturalpH fluctuations recorded in the study area during the experiment. This study provides relevant baseline data for future OAexperiments on coastal species in Antarctica.