Dataset Information

Integrated transcriptomic and functional immunological approach for assessing the invasiveness of bivalve alien species.

ABSTRACT: Biological invasions started when humans moved species beyond their normal geographic limits. Bivalves are the most notoriously invasive species in subtidal aquatic environments. Next-generation sequencing technologies are applied to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in the invasion. The ecological immunology focuses on the role of immunity in invasion, and its magnitude could help to predict the invasiveness of alien species. A remarkable case of invasion has been reported in the Ría de Vigo (Spain) by the black pygmy mussel Xenostrobus securis. In Galicia, the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis is the predominant cultured bivalve species. Can we predict the invasiveness of alien bivalve species by analyzing their immune response? Can X. securis represent a risk for the autochthonous mussel? We evaluated the suitability of the immune-related hypotheses in our model by using an integrated transcriptomic and functional immunological approach. Our analysis suggests lower immune capabilities in X. securis compared to M. galloprovincialis, probably due to the relocation of energetic resources from the immune response to vital physiological processes to cope with salinity stress. This multidisciplinary approach will help us understand how the immune response can be influenced by the adaptive process and how this immune response can influence the invasion process.

SUBMITTER: Romero A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6934813 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Integrated transcriptomic and functional immunological approach for assessing the invasiveness of bivalve alien species.

Romero Alejandro A Aranguren Raquel R Moreira Rebeca R Novoa Beatriz B Figueras Antonio A

Scientific reports 20191227 1

Biological invasions started when humans moved species beyond their normal geographic limits. Bivalves are the most notoriously invasive species in subtidal aquatic environments. Next-generation sequencing technologies are applied to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in the invasion. The ecological immunology focuses on the role of immunity in invasion, and its magnitude could help to predict the invasiveness of alien species. A remarkable case of invasion has been reported in the Ría ...[more]

PMID: 31882949

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Project description:Urban areas are being affected by rapidly increasing human-made pressures that can strongly homogenize biodiversity, reduce habitat heterogeneity, and facilitate the invasion of alien species. One of the key concerns in invaded urban areas is comparing the trait-environment relationships between alien and native species, to determine the underlying causes of invasiveness. In the current study, we used a trait-environment dataset of 130 native plants and 33 alien plants, recorded in 100 plots covering 50 urban areas and 50 non-urban ones in an urbanization gradient in the arid mountainous Saint-Katherine protected area in Egypt. We measured eleven morphological plant traits for each plant species and ten environmental variables in each plot, including soil resources and human-made pressures, to construct trait-environment associations using a fourth-corner analysis. In addition, we measured the mean functional and phylogenetic distances between the two species groups along an urbanization gradient. Our results revealed strongly significant relationships of alien species traits with human-made pressures and soil resources in urban areas. However, in non-urban areas, alien species traits showed weak and non-significant associations with the environment. Simultaneously, native plants showed consistency in their trait-environment relationships in urban and non-urban areas. In line with these results, the functional and phylogenetic distances declined between the aliens and natives in urban areas, indicating biotic homogenization with increasing urbanization, and increased in non-urban areas, indicating greater divergence between the two species groups. Thereby, this study provided evidence that urbanization can reveal the plasticity of alien species and can also be the leading cause of homogenization in an arid urban area. Future urban studies should investigate the potential causes of taxonomic, genetic, and functional homogenization in species composition in formerly more diverse urbanized areas.

Dataset Information

Integrated transcriptomic and functional immunological approach for assessing the invasiveness of bivalve alien species.

Publications

Integrated transcriptomic and functional immunological approach for assessing the invasiveness of bivalve alien species.

Similar Datasets

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