Molecular responses of a key Antarctic species to sedimentation due to rapid climate change.

Rapid regional warming causing glacial retreat and melting of ice caps in Antarctica leads benthic filter-feeders to be exposed to periods of food shortage and high respiratory impairment as a consequence of seasonal sediment discharge in the West Antarctic Peninsula coastal areas. The molecular physiological response and its fine-tuning allow species to survive acute environmental stress and are thus a prerequisite to longer-term adaptation to changing environments. Under experimental conditions, we analyzed here the metabolic response to changes in suspended sediment concentrations, through transcriptome sequencing and enzymatic measurements in a highly abundant Antarctic ascidian. We found that the mechanisms underlying short-term response to sedimentation in Cnemidocarpa verrucosa sp. A involved apoptosis, immune defense, and general metabolic depression. These mechanisms may be understood as an adaptive protection against sedimentation caused by glacial retreat. This process can strongly contribute to the structuring of future benthic filter-feeder communities in the face of climate change.

Hidden diversity in Antarctica: Molecular and morphological evidence of two different species within one of the most conspicuous ascidian species.

The Southern Ocean is one of the most isolated marine ecosystems, characterized by high levels of endemism, diversity, and biomass. Ascidians are among the dominant groups in Antarctic benthic assemblages; thus, recording the evolutionary patterns of this group is crucial to improve our current understanding of the assembly of this polar ocean. We studied the genetic variation within Cnemidocarpa verrucosa sensu lato, one of the most widely distributed abundant and studied ascidian species in Antarctica. Using a mitochondrial and a nuclear gene (COI and 18S), the phylogeography of fifteen populations distributed along the West Antarctic Peninsula and Burdwood Bank/MPA Namuncurá (South American shelf) was characterized, where the distribution of the genetic distance suggested the existence of, at least, two species within nominal C. verrucosa. When reevaluating morphological traits to distinguish between genetically defined species, the presence of a basal disk in one of the genotypes could be a diagnostic morphological trait to differentiate the species. These results are surprising due to the large research that has been carried out with the conspicuous C. verrucosa with no differentiation between species. Furthermore, it provides important tools to distinguish species in the field and laboratory. But also, these results give new insights into patterns of differentiation between closely related species that are distributed in sympatry, where the permeability of species boundaries still needs to be well understood.

Inhibitory action of thymol on fecal microbial activity in Tamandua tetradactyla and its effect on glucocorticoid metabolite measurement.

Faecal glucocorticoid measurement is a potentially important tool for improving wildlife conservation, but its use is still limited by methodological issues including the need to avoid modifications of steroids by faecal microorganisms during storage. The freezing of faeces is recommended as a means of avoiding such alterations, but this is costly under non-controlled environmental conditions. The present study was designed to determine whether the application of thymol reduced the proliferation of microorganisms in the faeces of Tamandua tetradactyla and whether it influenced faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) measurements. Tamandua tetradactyla faeces were individually collected after defaecation, divided into fractions (5.5 g each) and kept in sealed glass Petri dishes at 22 ±â€¯2 °C. A thymol solution (550 µL; 5 mg g-1 feces; 80% ethanol) or an 80% ethanol solution (550 µL, control) was added before storage of faeces. Negative controls for FGM consisted of samples without thymol or ethanol solutions. All samples were evaluated at 0, 24, 48 and 72 h post-defaecation. Thymol was first incubated with a glucocorticoid standard in a faeces-free tube or in a faecal sample in order to determine whether it interfered with FGM measurements. Data showed that thymol did not affect FGM measurements. Post-defaecation time caused a significant reduction in FGM measurements in the negative control, an increment at 48 h in the control, and no change in FGM measurements in thymol treatment. FGM measurements were significantly different between groups (negative control > control - treatment). Thymol caused a significant reduction of up to three orders of magnitude in total coliforms, total aerobic and anaerobic heterotrophic mesophilic bacteria, mold and yeast per gram of faeces at 24, 48 and 72 h. The reduction in microbial activity presumably contributed to the stability of FGM over time. Spore-forming bacteria (SFB) in faeces were not reduced by thymol. We propose thymol as an alternative to freezing since it stabilizes FGMs for at least 3 days after collection in the faeces of Tamandua tetradactyla.