Dataset Information

Glacial melting: an overlooked threat to Antarctic krill.

ABSTRACT: Strandings of marine animals are relatively common in marine systems. However, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. We observed mass strandings of krill in Antarctica that appeared to be linked to the presence of glacial meltwater. Climate-induced glacial meltwater leads to an increased occurrence of suspended particles in the sea, which is known to affect the physiology of aquatic organisms. Here, we study the effect of suspended inorganic particles on krill in relation to krill mortality events observed in Potter Cove, Antarctica, between 2003 and 2012. The experimental results showed that large quantities of lithogenic particles affected krill feeding, absorption capacity and performance after only 24?h of exposure. Negative effects were related to both the threshold concentrations and the size of the suspended particles. Analysis of the stomach contents of stranded krill showed large quantities of large particles (?>?10(6?)?m(3)), which were most likely mobilized by glacial meltwater. Ongoing climate-induced glacial melting may impact the coastal ecosystems of Antarctica that rely on krill.

SUBMITTER: Fuentes V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4890292 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Glacial melting: an overlooked threat to Antarctic krill.

Fuentes Verónica V Alurralde Gastón G Meyer Bettina B Aguirre Gastón E GE Canepa Antonio A Wölfl Anne-Cathrin AC Hass H Christian HC Williams Gabriela N GN Schloss Irene R IR

Scientific reports 20160602

Strandings of marine animals are relatively common in marine systems. However, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. We observed mass strandings of krill in Antarctica that appeared to be linked to the presence of glacial meltwater. Climate-induced glacial meltwater leads to an increased occurrence of suspended particles in the sea, which is known to affect the physiology of aquatic organisms. Here, we study the effect of suspended inorganic particles on krill in relation to krill mor ...[more]

PMID: 27250339

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Project description:BackgroundThe Antarctic krill Euphausia superba is a keystone species in the Antarctic food chain. Not only is it a significant grazer of phytoplankton, but it is also a major food item for charismatic megafauna such as whales and seals and an important Southern Ocean fisheries crop. Ecological data suggest that this species is being affected by climate change and this will have considerable consequences for the balance of the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Hence, understanding how this organism functions is a priority area and will provide fundamental data for life history studies, energy budget calculations and food web models.Methodology/principal findingsThe assembly of the 454 transcriptome of E. superba resulted in 22,177 contigs with an average size of 492bp (ranging between 137 and 8515bp). In depth analysis of the data revealed an extensive catalogue of the cellular chaperone systems and the major antioxidant proteins. Full length sequences were characterised for the chaperones HSP70, HSP90 and the super-oxide dismutase antioxidants, with the discovery of potentially novel duplications of these genes. The sequence data contained 41,470 microsatellites and 17,776 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs/INDELS), providing a resource for population and also gene function studies.ConclusionsThis paper details the first 454 generated data for a pelagic Antarctic species or any pelagic crustacean globally. The classical "stress proteins", such as HSP70, HSP90, ferritin and GST were all highly expressed. These genes were shown to be over expressed in the transcriptomes of Antarctic notothenioid fish and hypothesized as adaptations to living in the cold, with the associated problems of decreased protein folding efficiency and increased vulnerability to damage by reactive oxygen species. Hence, these data will provide a major resource for future physiological work on krill, but in particular a suite of "stress" genes for studies understanding marine ectotherms' capacities to cope with environmental change.

Dataset Information

Glacial melting: an overlooked threat to Antarctic krill.

Publications

Glacial melting: an overlooked threat to Antarctic krill.

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