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1H NMR Metabolomics Reveals Contrasting Response by Male and Female Mussels Exposed to Reduced Seawater pH, Increased Temperature, and a Pathogen
journal contribution
posted on 2014-06-17, 00:00 authored by Robert P. Ellis, John I. Spicer, Jonathan J. Byrne, Ulf Sommer, Mark R. Viant, Daniel A. White, Steve WiddicombeHuman
activities are fundamentally altering the chemistry of the
world’s oceans. Ocean acidification (OA) is occurring against
a background of warming and an increasing occurrence of disease outbreaks,
posing a significant threat to marine organisms, communities, and
ecosystems. In the current study, 1H NMR spectroscopy was
used to investigate the response of the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, to a 90-day exposure to reduced seawater
pH and increased temperature, followed by a subsequent pathogenic
challenge. Analysis of the metabolome revealed significant differences
between male and female organisms. Furthermore, males and females
are shown to respond differently to environmental stress. While males
were significantly affected by reduced seawater pH, increased temperature,
and a bacterial challenge, it was only a reduction in seawater pH
that impacted females. Despite impacting males and females differently,
stressors seem to act via a generalized stress response impacting
both energy metabolism and osmotic balance in both sexes. This study
therefore has important implications for the interpretation of metabolomic
data in mussels, as well as the impact of environmental stress in
marine invertebrates in general.