Rocky intertidal organisms are commonly exposed to environmental gradients, promoting adapta-tions to these conditions. Emersion time varies along the intertidal range and in the supralittoralzone is frequently larger...Rocky intertidal organisms are commonly exposed to environmental gradients, promoting adapta-tions to these conditions. Emersion time varies along the intertidal range and in the supralittoralzone is frequently larger than a single tidal cycle, even lasting for weeks. The planktonic-dispersinggastropod Melarhaphe neritoides is a common species of the high shore, adapted to reduce waterloss in order to survive during long-term emersion. In this study, we investigated the molecular re-sponse, at the proteome level, of M. neritoides collected in high-shore tide pools to a series ofemersion periods, from 8 to 24 days, in laboratory conditions. We compared this response to indi-viduals maintained submerged during this period, because this was their original habitat. We alsoincluded a reversion treatment in the study, in which emersed individuals were returned to the sub-merged conditions. Although we detected an increase in overall protein concentration with longeremersion periods, contrary to general expectation, the two dimensional electrophoresis （2DE）-based proteomic analysis did not show significant differences between the treatments at the levelof individual protein spots, even after an emersion period of 24 days. Our results suggest that themetabolism remains unaltered independent of the treatment carried out or the changes are verysubtle and therefore difficult to detect with our experimental design. We conclude that M. neri-toides could be equally adapted to emersion and submersion without drastic physiologicalchanges.展开更多
文摘Rocky intertidal organisms are commonly exposed to environmental gradients, promoting adapta-tions to these conditions. Emersion time varies along the intertidal range and in the supralittoralzone is frequently larger than a single tidal cycle, even lasting for weeks. The planktonic-dispersinggastropod Melarhaphe neritoides is a common species of the high shore, adapted to reduce waterloss in order to survive during long-term emersion. In this study, we investigated the molecular re-sponse, at the proteome level, of M. neritoides collected in high-shore tide pools to a series ofemersion periods, from 8 to 24 days, in laboratory conditions. We compared this response to indi-viduals maintained submerged during this period, because this was their original habitat. We alsoincluded a reversion treatment in the study, in which emersed individuals were returned to the sub-merged conditions. Although we detected an increase in overall protein concentration with longeremersion periods, contrary to general expectation, the two dimensional electrophoresis （2DE）-based proteomic analysis did not show significant differences between the treatments at the levelof individual protein spots, even after an emersion period of 24 days. Our results suggest that themetabolism remains unaltered independent of the treatment carried out or the changes are verysubtle and therefore difficult to detect with our experimental design. We conclude that M. neri-toides could be equally adapted to emersion and submersion without drastic physiologicalchanges.
