Biology subjects

Lowe, A. T.

Publications and source records attributed to Lowe, A. T..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2018

Characterization of Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) proteomic response to natural environmental differences

Global climate change is rapidly altering coastal marine ecosystems important for food production. A comprehensive understanding of how organisms will respond to these complex environmental changes can come only from observing and studying species within their natural environment. To this end, the effects of environmental drivers -- pH, dissolved oxygen content, salinity, and temperature -- on Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) physiology were evaluated in an outplant experiment. Sibling juvenile oysters were outplanted to eelgrass and unvegetated habitat at five different estuarine sites within the Acidification Nearshore Monitoring Network in Washington State, USA to evaluate how regional environmental drivers influence molecular physiology. Within each site, we also determined if eelgrass presence that buffered pH conditions changed the oysters expressed proteome. A novel, two-step, gel-free proteomic approach was used to identify differences in protein abundance in C. gigas ctenidia tissue after a 29 day outplant by 1) identifying proteins in a data independent acquisition survey step and 2) comparing relative quantities of targeted environmental response proteins using selected reaction monitoring. While there was no difference in protein abundance detected between habitats or among sites within Puget Sound, C. gigas outplanted at Willapa Bay had significantly higher abundances of antioxidant enzymes and molecular chaperones. Environmental factors at Willapa Bay, such as higher average temperature, may have driven this protein abundance pattern. These findings generate a suite of new hypotheses for lab and field experiments to compare the effects of regional conditions on physiological responses of marine invertebrates.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2018

Pacific geoduck (Panopea generosa) resilience to natural pH variation

Pacific geoduck aquaculture is a growing industry, however, little is known about how geoduck respond to varying environmental conditions, or how the industry will fare under projected climate conditions. To understand how geoduck production may be impacted by low pH associated with ocean acidification, multi-faceted environmental heterogeneity needs to be included to understand species and community responses. In this study, eelgrass habitats and environmental heterogeneity across four estuarine bays were leveraged to examine low pH effects on geoduck under different natural regimes, using targeted proteomics to assess physiology. Juvenile geoduck were deployed in eelgrass and adjacent unvegetated habitats for 30 days while pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and salinity were monitored. Across the four bays, pH was lower in unvegetated habitats compared to eelgrass habitats. However this did not impact geoduck growth, survival, or proteomic abundance patterns in gill tissue. Temperature and dissolved oxygen differences across all locations corresponded to differences in growth and targeted protein abundance patterns. Specifically, three protein abundance levels (trifunctional-enzyme {beta}-subunit, puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase, and heat shock protein 90-) and shell growth positively correlated with dissolved oxygen variability and inversely correlated with mean temperature. These results demonstrate that geoduck may be resilient to low pH in a natural setting, but other abiotic factors (i.e. temperature, dissolved oxygen variability) may have a greater influence on geoduck physiology. In addition this study contributes to the understanding of how eelgrass patches influences water chemistry.

physiology↗