Hypoxia Disrupts Sex-Specific Physiology and Gene Expression Leading to Decreased Fitness in the Estuarine Sea Anemone Nematostella vectensis.

ABSTRACT: Coastal seawater hypoxia is increasing in temperate estuaries under global climate change, yet it is unknown how low oxygen conditions affect most estuarine species. We found that hypoxia has increased since the 1990s in an estuary hosting the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis (Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, New Jersey, USA). Adult N. vectensis bred from anemones collected in this estuary exposed to three consecutive nights of hypoxia (dissolved oxygen = 0.5-1.5 mg L^-1 for ~12 h night^-1) during gametogenesis displayed decreased aerobic respiration rates and biomass, indicating metabolic disruption. Physiological declines were correlated with changes in the expression of genes related to oxygen-dependent metabolic processes, many of which are ta

SUBMITTER: Glass BH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12010470 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature