Project description:The variability of the marine intertidal environment poses unique challenges for sessile species. Diurnal, tidal, and seasonal cycles introduce drastic variations in temperature, salinity, availability of nutrients and water. The California ribbed mussel Mytilus californianus is a filter feeder that dominates a middle range of the intertidal of many wave-swept rocky shores. The bivalve attaches to the substrate by several byssal threads. This sessile lifestyle allows us to accurately document the thermal history of an individual. We have profiled gene expression in M. californianus during a natural tidal cycle using a cDNA microarray composed of genes from mussels exposed to various stressors. Over three days, mussels were sampled from two sites differing in emersion exposure and average temperature. At each time point, three mussels were cut open in the field and frozen immediately on dry ice and stored at -80 degrees C until the gill, hepatopancreas, and adductor muscle were excised and processed for RNA extraction, reverse transcription, and hybridization to our microarrays. The resulting expression profile showed that genes involved in the cell cycle were diurnally regulated, heat shock proteins increased with temperature, and expression of several hundred other genes varied across the tidal cycle. Tide series (times and tide height): 26th July, low tide 0052, 0.8 ft; high tide 0705, 3.1 ft; low tide 1113, 2.4 ft; high tide 1810, 5.9ft. 27th July, low tide 0154, 0.1 ft; high tide 0837, 3.3 ft; low tide 1216, 2.7ft; high tide 1903, 6.2 ft. 28th July, low tide 0249, -0.6ft; high tide 0943, 3.5 ft; low tide 1323, 2.8ft; high tide 1903, 6.2ft. 15th Aug, low tide 0530, 0.26 ft; high tide 1200, 4.08 ft, low tide 0432, 2.65 ft; high tide 1036, 5.84 ft.
Project description:Structure and functional diversity of bacterioplankton communities in an overwintering habitat for large yellow croaker, Pseudosciaena crocea, of southern East China Sea
Project description:In 2013, two large-scale Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) mortality episodes were reported on separate coasts of Florida. The east coast mortality episode was associated with an unknown etiology in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL). The west coast mortality episode was attributed to a persistent Karenia brevis algal bloom or ‘red tide’ centered in Southwest Florida. To investigate these two mortality episodes, proteomic experiments using two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) followed by protein identification using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) were conducted, along with a separate gel-free analysis using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) LC-MS/MS. In comparison to the control group, manatees from the IRL, an area associated with an unknown mortality episode, displayed increased levels of several proteins in their serum samples. These increased proteins, which were identified in the iTRAQ experiment, included kininogen-1 isoform 1 (average ratio 1.38), protein AMBP (1.38), histidine-rich glycoprotein (1.34), properdin (1.30), and complement C4-A isoform 1 (1.25). In the red tide group, ceruloplasmin (2.32), pyruvate kinase isozymes M1/M2 isoform 3 (2.29), angiotensinogen (2.08), complement C4-A isoform 1 (1.83), and complement C3 (1.42) were increased. The proteins kininogen-1 isoform 1, histidine-rich glycoprotein, complement C4-A isoform 1, angiotensinogen, and complement C3 were also identified in increased levels in the 2D-DIGE experiment (Table 2b). These proteins are associated with acute-phase response, amyloid formation and accumulation, copper and iron homeostasis, the complement cascade pathway, and other important cellular functions. The increased level of complement C4 protein observed in both the red tide and unknown mortality episode groups was confirmed through the use of Western Blot.
Project description:16S rRNA gene metabarcoding reveals a potential metabolic role for intracellular bacteria in a major marine planktonic calcifier (Foraminifera).