Gene expression and physiological changes of different populations of the long-lived bivalve Arctica islandica under low oxygen conditions.

ABSTRACT: The bivalve Arctica islandica is extremely long lived (>400 years) and can tolerate long periods of hypoxia and anoxia. European populations differ in maximum life spans (MLSP) from 40 years in the Baltic to >400 years around Iceland. Characteristic behavior of A. islandica involves phases of metabolic rate depression (MRD) during which the animals burry into the sediment for several days. During these phases the shell water oxygen concentrations reaches hypoxic to anoxic levels, which possibly support the long life span of some populations. We investigated gene regulation in A. islandica from a long-lived (MLSP 150 years) German Bight population and the short-lived Baltic Sea population, experimentally exposed to different oxygen levels. A new A. islandica transcriptome enabled the identi

SUBMITTER: Philipp EE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3446923 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature