Interspecific Artemia responses to sublethal zinc exposure

Session 08 XIV MEDECOS & XIII AEET meeting. Human driven scenarios for evolutionary and ecological changes Seville, Spain, 31st January - 4th February 2017 120 S.08-23-Poster How do invasive species cope with different environmental conditions? A proteomic study of two alien crayfish: Procambarus clarkii and Procambarus fallax f. virginalis Oficialdegui, F.1 (1) Doñana Biological Station Correspondence e-mail: [[email protected]] Invasive species are often able to cope with variety environmental conditions enabling them to expand to new habitats. Once introduced and successfully established those invasive species, often threaten native species in their ecosystems. New environmental conditions may act as selective pressures that drive organismal adaptation and evolution. However, alongside genetic adaptation, invasive organisms also show a high degree of plasticity in response to environmental challenge. To elucidate whether epigenetic mechanisms allow an organism to respond to the environment, we study how individuals of two invasive crayfish species respond to environmental challenges by means of a cutting-edge proteomic approach. Our objective is to investigate which types of proteins and how many of each type are expressed when individuals are exposed to different environmental conditions. Our target species are two invasive crayfish, i.e. the red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii; and the parthenogenetic marbled crayfish, Procambarus fallax f. virginalis. The use of a parthenogenetic species will allow us to assess whether changes in protein expression are uniquely due to plasticity (as individuals are genetically identical). We conduct an experiment in which we expose the two crayfish species to treatments consisting of different combinations of temperature and water velocity for several days. After exposure, individuals will be collected and immediately subjected to tissue extraction from the muscle, gills and hepatopancreas to examine the proteome responses. Here, we will present the details of the experimental setup and hypotheses tested as well as any available results. S.08-24-Poster Interspecific Artemia responses to sublethal zinc exposure Pais-Costa, A.J.1, Martinez-Haro, M.2, Varó, I.3, Almeida Vinagre, P.4, Sánchez, M.I.5 (1) MARE. (2) IREC. (3) IATS-CSIC. (4) MAREUC. (5) EBD-CSIC Correspondence e-mail: [juliana.pais.cos[email protected]om] Conservation of the biodiversity of brine shrimp Artemia spp. in the Mediterranean region is a matter of great concern. The native Artemia (A. parthenogenetica and A. salina) are threatened owing to habitat alteration and mostly to the competitive exclusion by the exotic A. franciscana. Most studies indicate that pollution generally favours invasion of exotic species. However, a recent study shows local adaptation of native populations to contaminated conditions may prevent colonization by A. franciscana. Under this context, the sublethal toxicity of zinc was assessed in natural populations of A. parthenogenetica from the highly contaminated Odiel estuary (southern Spain), one of the few remaining sites with native Artemia, and in A. franciscana from a less contaminated area (Cadiz bay, Spain, SW Spain). Results showed higher survival and growth rate for A. franciscana than A. parthenogenetica. Both species experienced slower growth and higher mortality when exposed to zinc. However, no significant effects were found in final size. Regarding reproductive parameters, A. parthenogenetica had shorter pre-reproductive period, higher number of broods, higher offspring and lower percentage of non-viable nauplii. Both species showed reduced pre-reproductive period, higher offspring per day, and lower percentage of non-viable nauplii when exposed to Zn. Meanwhile, the reproductive period, number of broods, interbrood period and mode of reproduction were not affected by zinc exposure. Zinc increased total offspring and total offspring per brood in A. parthenogenetica but had not effect in A. franciscana. We discuss the implications of our results for the invasion of A. franciscana.