Project description:The red sea urchin, Mesocentrotus franciscanus, is one the earth’s longest-lived animals, reported to live more than 100 years with indeterminate growth, life-long reproduction and no increase in mortality rate with age. To explore the idea that transcriptional stability is a key determinant of longevity and negligible senescence, age-related gene expression was examined in three tissues of the red sea urchin (Aristotle’s lantern muscle, esophagus and radial nerve cord). Genome-wide transcriptional profiling using RNA-Seq revealed remarkable stability in muscle and esophagus with very few age-related changes in gene expression. In contrast, expression of more than 900 genes was significantly altered with age in radial nerve cord including genes involved in nerve function, signaling, metabolism, cytoskeleton, transcriptional regulation and chromatin modification. Notably, there was an upregulation in expression of genes involved in synaptogenesis and axonogenesis suggesting enhanced nervous system activity with age. Among the signaling pathways affected by age, there was a downregulation in expression of key components of the mTOR signaling pathway and an upregulation of negative regulators of this pathway. This was accompanied by a reduction in expression of genes involved in protein synthesis and mitochondrial function and an increase in expression of genes that promote autophagy. Downregulation of the mTOR pathway together with the other observed changes reveals a unique age-related gene expression profile in the red sea urchin nervous system that may contribute to mitigation of the detrimental effects of aging in this long-lived animal.
Project description:Seawater exposure to the gram negative marine bacterium Vibrio diazotrophicus induces a robust cellular response in sea urchin larvae that includes the migration of pigment cells to the gut epithelium, changes in cell behavior and altered gut morphology (Ho et al., 2016; PMID 27192936). To investigate the transcriptional underpinnings of this response, whole transcriptome sequencing was performed on mRNA isolated from larval samples collected at 0, 6, 12 and 24 hr of exposure to V. diazotrophicus. The morphological simplicity of the sea urchin larva provides a systems-level model for identifying biologically relevant transcriptional state changes in response to dysbiosis in the gut lumen.
Project description:Sea urchin larvae possess a group of photoreceptor cells (PRCs) deploying a Go-Opsin (Opsin3.2). In this study, we investigate investigate the molecular signature of the Sp-Opsin3.2 cells using single cell transcriptomics.
Project description:Increasing atmospheric CO2 raises sea surface temperatures and results in ocean acidification, which will impact upon calcifying marine organisms, such as the commercially and ecologically important Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas). Larval stages of development are particularly sensitive to such stressors and may represent population bottlenecks. A two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) proteomic approach was used to investigate the response of 40 hour C. gigas larvae to ocean acidification and warming, and to relate protein expression to phenotypic variation in size and calcification. Larvae were reared at two pHs (8.1 and 7.9) and two temperatures (20°C and 22°C), and comparisons carried out between the four possible treatment combinations. In total 22 differentially expressed spots, corresponding to 18 proteins, were identified by nano-liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. These proteins had roles in metabolism, biomineralisation, intra- and extra-cellular matrix formation and as molecular chaperones. Thirteen of these spots responded to acidification, of which 11 showed reduced expression during acidification. Declines in ATP synthase, arginine kinase and other metabolic proteins suggest metabolic depression occurred during acidification and reduced protein synthesis. In contrast, 6 of 7 proteins that were differentially expressed during warming showed increased expression. Among these were molecular chaperones including protein disulphide isomerase (PDI) and Grp78. Concurrent acidification and warming appeared to mitigate some proteomic changes and negative phenotypic effects observed in acidification at 20°C; however, differential expression of nine proteins and other temperature-independent effects on calcification phenotypes suggest that larval responses to multiple stressors will be complex.
Project description:In this research we present a transcriptomics analysis of the physiological response of a marine calcifier, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, to ocean acidification, a decline in ocean pH that results from the absorption of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2). Larvae were raised from fertilization to prism stage in seawater with elevated CO2 conditions based upon IPCC emissions scenario B1 (540ppm CO2) and A1FI (1020ppm CO2).