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Modelling the dynamics of growth, development and lipid storage in the marine copepod Calanus finmarchicus.

ABSTRACT: Mechanistic models are essential tools for interpreting and predicting the consequences of a changing environment and stressors such as pollution on the life histories of marine organisms. Here, we apply the simple and generic energy-budget model DEBkiss to the life history of the marine copepod Calanus finmarchicus. Model modifications were needed to accommodate the copepod life cycle, which deviates in several respects from most other animals (e.g., a sudden stop of growth after the final moult). We identified an acceleration of growth in the early copepodite stages, which could be linked to an increase in the specific feeding rate of the animals. Lipid storage, an essential element of C. finmarchicus biology, was successfully captured with the reproduction buffer of the DEBkiss model. The resulting model was fitted to a detailed data set from the literature and was able to explain growth, development and lipid storage from egg to adult, at different temperatures and food availabilities, within a single consistent framework. The parameterised model could subsequently be used to elucidate the energetic constraints on gonad maturation and reproduction. Interestingly, the overhead costs for egg production seem to be substantially higher than the default value applied in DEB-based studies. The current model provides a solid basis for applications in stress ecology, although our model analysis also identified several knowledge gaps. Specifically, further research is needed to cover the dynamics of diapause and gonad maturation, to explain the dependence of maximum body size on food and temperature, and to verify the predicted high costs for maturity maintenance.

SUBMITTER: Jager T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5126210 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Modelling the dynamics of growth, development and lipid storage in the marine copepod <i>Calanus finmarchicus</i>.

Jager Tjalling T Salaberria Iurgi I Altin Dag D Nordtug Trond T Hansen Bjørn Henrik BH

Marine biology 20161122 1

Mechanistic models are essential tools for interpreting and predicting the consequences of a changing environment and stressors such as pollution on the life histories of marine organisms. Here, we apply the simple and generic energy-budget model DEBkiss to the life history of the marine copepod <i>Calanus finmarchicus</i>. Model modifications were needed to accommodate the copepod life cycle, which deviates in several respects from most other animals (e.g., a sudden stop of growth after the fin ...[more]

PMID: 27980349

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Project description:IntroductionCalanus finmarchicus, a highly abundant copepod that is an important primary consumer in North Atlantic ecosystems, has a flexible life history in which copepods in the last juvenile developmental stage (fifth copepodid, C5) may either delay maturation and enter diapause or molt directly into adults. The factors that regulate this developmental plasticity are poorly understood, and few tools have been developed to assess the physiological condition of individual copepods.ResultsWe sampled a cultured population of C. finmarchicus copepods daily throughout the C5 stage and assessed molt stage progression, gonad development and lipid storage. We used high-throughput sequencing to identify genes that were differentially expressed during progression through the molt stage and then used qPCR to profile daily expression of individual genes. Based on expression profiles of twelve genes, samples were statistically clustered into three groups: (1) an early period occurring prior to separation of the cuticle from the epidermis (apolysis) when expression of genes associated with lipid synthesis and transport (FABP and ELOV) and two nuclear receptors (ERR and HR78) was highest, (2) a middle period of rapid change in both gene expression and physiological condition, including local minima and maxima in several nuclear receptors (FTZ-F1, HR38b, and EcR), and (3) a late period when gonads were differentiated and expression of genes associated with molting (Torso-like, HR38a) peaked. The ratio of Torso-like to HR38b strongly differentiated the early and late groups.ConclusionsThis study provides the first dynamic profiles of gene expression anchored with morphological markers of lipid accumulation, development and gonad maturation throughout a copepod molt cycle. Transcriptomic profiling revealed significant changes over the molt cycle in genes with presumed roles in lipid synthesis, molt regulation and gonad development, suggestive of a coupling of these processes in Calanus finmarchicus. Finally, we identified gene expression profiles that strongly differentiate between early and late development within the C5 copepodid stage. We anticipate that these findings and continued development of robust gene expression biomarkers that distinguish between diapause preparation and continuous development will ultimately enable novel studies of the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that govern diapause initiation in Calanus finmarchicus.

Dataset Information

Modelling the dynamics of growth, development and lipid storage in the marine copepod Calanus finmarchicus.

Publications

Modelling the dynamics of growth, development and lipid storage in the marine copepod <i>Calanus finmarchicus</i>.

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