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Spatial-temporal variability of Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck 1819 populations and their accumulated sediment in northern Portugal.

ABSTRACT: Mytilus galloprovincialis is an ecosystem engineer that provides habitat and generates environmental heterogeneity, increasing local biodiversity. Moreover, it is an economically important species representing 14% of the global production of marine bivalves. Natural drivers and the increase of anthropogenic pressures, such as sediment stress, influence its populations on rocky shores. The objective of this study was to explore the spatial-temporal patterns of different M. galloprovincialis attributes along the north of Portugal. For that purpose, six rocky shores were selected and sampled six times along the year 2019. The percentage of cover, density, spat density, condition index, clump thickness, size classes and clump sediment content were considered. Results showed the lack of seasonality in M. galloprovincialis along the north coast of Portugal. However, density, spat stage, clump thickness, condition index and size classes showed some variability among dates and shores. The percentage cover and sediment content only significantly differed among shores. Our results indicated an absence of seasonality for all the studied variables, probably because temperature was always within the optimum range for this species and the abundance of food supply in the study area independently of the season. The accumulated sediment on mussel clumps did not show any temporal variability with only significant differences among shores. The accumulated sediment was composed mainly by medium and coarse sand and it was correlated with mussel average size, condition index, but especially with the mussel clump thickness.

SUBMITTER: Ramos-Oliveira C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8231337 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:The slipper limpet Crepipatella dilatata, native to Chile and Argentina, was introduced in Spain in 2005. The species was thought to inhabit the region of Rias Bajas, yet recently, putative C. dilatata populations have been documented on the coast of north-central Spain and in the Ebro Delta of the Spanish Mediterranean. Here we undertook a multidisciplinary approach to study the invasion biology of this species. Specifically, two geographically distant populations, one being a successfully established population from O Grove and the other a declining population from Gijon, were studied over the course of four years. Analyses of morphological and developmental traits as well as genetic information confirmed the presence of C. dilatata in these sites. The results revealed polymorphism in anatomical traits and shell shape. Shell shape polymorphism was unevenly distributed among sites and among sexes. Males were monomorphic, while females were polymorphic. Of the female morphotypes encountered, one was absent in the declining population from Gijón. Size at first female maturation and female size were greater in the declining population than in the established population. Reproductive success varied seasonally but not spatially among populations. In the established population, gregariousness was significantly greater; the size when sex changes was found to be plastic and socially controlled. The sex ratio of the declining population was female biased while in the established population the sex ratio changed during the study period from being balanced to being female biased. This change in sex ratio was probably due to higher male mortality. Molecular analyses pointed to the localities of Corral Bay in southern Chile and Puerto Madryn in southern Argentina as potential population sources. The intercontinental import of fresh mussels cultivated in Chilean farms is a likely source of this mussel in Spain. Comparison with available data of native populations of C. dilatata strongly indicate that ecophenotypic plasticity, socially controlled sex change, high gregariousness, increased nurse egg supply to viable larvae during the encapsulated developmental period, later maturation and larger female sizes altogether enhance establishment success of this non-indigenous species. Human-mediated factors like the intraregional mussel trade and transplantation are also likely secondary dispersal mechanisms favouring the spread of this organism.

Project description:BackgroundEffective innate responses against potential pathogens are essential in the living world and possibly contributed to the evolutionary success of invertebrates. Taken together, antimicrobial peptide (AMP) precursors of defensin, mytilin, myticin and mytimycin can represent about 40% of the hemocyte transcriptome in mussels injected with viral-like and bacterial preparations, and unique profiles of myticin C variants are expressed in single mussels. Based on amplicon pyrosequencing, we have ascertained and compared the natural and Vibrio-induced diversity of AMP transcripts in mussel hemocytes from three European regions.Methodology/principal findingsHemolymph was collected from mussels farmed in the coastal regions of Palavas (France), Vigo (Spain) and Venice (Italy). To represent the AMP families known in M. galloprovincialis, nine transcript sequences have been selected, amplified from hemocyte RNA and subjected to pyrosequencing. Hemolymph from farmed (offshore) and wild (lagoon) Venice mussels, both injected with 10(7) Vibrio cells, were similarly processed. Amplicon pyrosequencing emphasized the AMP transcript diversity, with Single Nucleotide Changes (SNC) minimal for mytilin B/C and maximal for arthropod-like defensin and myticin C. Ratio of non-synonymous vs. synonymous changes also greatly differed between AMP isotypes. Overall, each amplicon revealed similar levels of nucleotidic variation across geographical regions, with two main sequence patterns confirmed for mytimycin and no substantial changes after immunostimulation.Conclusions/significanceBarcoding and bidirectional pyrosequencing allowed us to map and compare the transcript diversity of known mussel AMPs. Though most of the genuine cds variation was common to the analyzed samples we could estimate from 9 to 106 peptide variants in hemolymph pools representing 100 mussels, depending on the AMP isoform and sampling site. In this study, no prevailing SNC patterns related to geographical origin or Vibrio injection emerged. Whether or not the contact with potential pathogens can increase the amount of AMP transcript variants in mussels requires additional study.

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Spatial-temporal variability of Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck 1819 populations and their accumulated sediment in northern Portugal.

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