Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EPIC (Evolution of Planktonic Gastropod Calcification)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2019-07-01 al 2021-06-30
Increasing CO2 in the atmosphere is causing ocean acidification (OA) at unprecedent rates and affecting the way marine organisms produce their calcified shells and skeletons. This impact is due to a decrease of calcium carbonate in seawater, which is their shells and skeletons’ main ingredient.
Shelled holoplanktonic snails, known as sea butterflies and sea elephants, are among the most vulnerable marine animals to OA because they live in the open ocean and build thin shells of calcium carbonate. Sea butterflies have received considerable attention and are reported to decrease calcification and experience shell dissolution under high CO2 conditions. Sea elephants have received much less attention over the years, but are expected to be equally vulnerable. Both groups of planktonic snails are important in marine ecosystems. They are intermediaries in the ocean food webs. Sea butterflies are mucus web feeders, feeding primarily on algae throughout their life. Sea elephants feed on algae in their early life stages and become predators when metamorphosing into adults, feeding on sea butterflies and other zooplankton. Sea butterflies, in particular, are also highly abundant in the oceans being important contributors to the overall ocean’s carbon biomass.
The aim of the EPIC action “Evolution of planktonic gastropod calcification” was to study how sea butterflies and sea elephants build their calcified shells and to assess how this process will cope with the ongoing ocean changes, namely, ocean acidification.
Similar to other molluscs, holoplanktonic gastropods build shells through a process called biomineralization, that is genetically controlled, but the genes involved this process were unknown.
Using molecular techniques, shell proteomics combined with transcriptomics, Dr. Ramos-Silva was able to identify for the first time the genetic toolkit involved in biomineralization in three species of sea butterflies, representing three major lineages with distinct shell wall architectures. The discovery of these genes provides new understanding on how the thin shells of sea butterflies are made and sheds light on the evolution of their biomineralization over the past 140 million years. These biomineralization genes are fast-evolving and suggest high adaptive potential of sea butterflies to respond to environmental changes.
Dr. Ramos-Silva has also studied the response of sea butterflies and sea elephants to conditions mimicking the past, present and future CO2 concentrations in the oceans. By measuring the gene expression at different life stages, she found that juveniles are more vulnerable to OA than adults and may constitute the major bottleneck in the adaptability to ocean changes.
In sum, EPIC enabled to shed light on the evolution of calcification in holoplanktonic gastropods and to make more realistic predictions of the impacts of ocean acidification on this process.
Shelled holoplanktonic snails, known as sea butterflies and sea elephants, are among the most vulnerable marine animals to OA because they live in the open ocean and build thin shells of calcium carbonate. Sea butterflies have received considerable attention and are reported to decrease calcification and experience shell dissolution under high CO2 conditions. Sea elephants have received much less attention over the years, but are expected to be equally vulnerable. Both groups of planktonic snails are important in marine ecosystems. They are intermediaries in the ocean food webs. Sea butterflies are mucus web feeders, feeding primarily on algae throughout their life. Sea elephants feed on algae in their early life stages and become predators when metamorphosing into adults, feeding on sea butterflies and other zooplankton. Sea butterflies, in particular, are also highly abundant in the oceans being important contributors to the overall ocean’s carbon biomass.
The aim of the EPIC action “Evolution of planktonic gastropod calcification” was to study how sea butterflies and sea elephants build their calcified shells and to assess how this process will cope with the ongoing ocean changes, namely, ocean acidification.
Similar to other molluscs, holoplanktonic gastropods build shells through a process called biomineralization, that is genetically controlled, but the genes involved this process were unknown.
Using molecular techniques, shell proteomics combined with transcriptomics, Dr. Ramos-Silva was able to identify for the first time the genetic toolkit involved in biomineralization in three species of sea butterflies, representing three major lineages with distinct shell wall architectures. The discovery of these genes provides new understanding on how the thin shells of sea butterflies are made and sheds light on the evolution of their biomineralization over the past 140 million years. These biomineralization genes are fast-evolving and suggest high adaptive potential of sea butterflies to respond to environmental changes.
Dr. Ramos-Silva has also studied the response of sea butterflies and sea elephants to conditions mimicking the past, present and future CO2 concentrations in the oceans. By measuring the gene expression at different life stages, she found that juveniles are more vulnerable to OA than adults and may constitute the major bottleneck in the adaptability to ocean changes.
In sum, EPIC enabled to shed light on the evolution of calcification in holoplanktonic gastropods and to make more realistic predictions of the impacts of ocean acidification on this process.
Work performed during the EPIC action was divided in three work packages (WPs).
The aim of WP1 was to identify biomineralization genes in sea butterflies. The ER has successfully achieved this goal in three species of sea butterflies. Since their shells are very thin and small, it was necessary to create a novel protocol for shell cleaning and protein extraction. Under WP1 the ER delivered two conference presentations, one laboratory protocol and is preparing a high impact manuscript on shell proteins.
The aim of WP2 was to characterize the evolutionary history of biomineralization genes in sea butterflies. Under WP2 the ER gave two conference presentations, organized one seminar at Naturalis, created one promotional video for outreach and published one journal article, having other two submitted. The ER also mentored one MSc student in writing a popular science article on how seashells inspire CO2 storage. The main conclusion taken from this WP is that sea butterflies have high adaptive potential and a striking diversity of shell microstructures.
In WP3 the aim was to assess the response of holoplanktonic gastropods (sea butterflies and sea elephants) to OA trough gene expression at different life stages and CO2 conditions. This WP yields three manuscripts (one published, one in revision, and one in preparation) and open-source molecular data and code. The main conclusion taken was that juveniles are more sensitive to ocean acidification than adults with higher numbers of differentially expressed genes and more negative impacts on shell calcification. In the frame of WP3 the ER had the opportunity to give guest lectures at the University of Amsterdam, supervise two MSc students and do advanced training on genomic studies.
Other objectives of the EPIC action were to foster the career development of the ER and the transfer of skills between ER and members of the host research group, Plankton Diversity and Evolution, at Naturalis Biodiversity Center. These two objectives were largely achieved. The ER has established three new international collaborations, mentored and supervised four MSc students’ projects, and guest lectured at the University of Amsterdam. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak there were not so many opportunities to do outreach in person but the ER created a video about the EPIC project to reach broader audiences. The ER also had the opportunity to do advanced training in leadership and genomics by attending three online courses of one week duration each. While at Naturalis Dr. Ramos-Silva had the opportunity to visit the museum collection, have full access to specimens to do her own research and meet and discuss with taxonomists, collection managers, research analysts and other researchers.
The aim of WP1 was to identify biomineralization genes in sea butterflies. The ER has successfully achieved this goal in three species of sea butterflies. Since their shells are very thin and small, it was necessary to create a novel protocol for shell cleaning and protein extraction. Under WP1 the ER delivered two conference presentations, one laboratory protocol and is preparing a high impact manuscript on shell proteins.
The aim of WP2 was to characterize the evolutionary history of biomineralization genes in sea butterflies. Under WP2 the ER gave two conference presentations, organized one seminar at Naturalis, created one promotional video for outreach and published one journal article, having other two submitted. The ER also mentored one MSc student in writing a popular science article on how seashells inspire CO2 storage. The main conclusion taken from this WP is that sea butterflies have high adaptive potential and a striking diversity of shell microstructures.
In WP3 the aim was to assess the response of holoplanktonic gastropods (sea butterflies and sea elephants) to OA trough gene expression at different life stages and CO2 conditions. This WP yields three manuscripts (one published, one in revision, and one in preparation) and open-source molecular data and code. The main conclusion taken was that juveniles are more sensitive to ocean acidification than adults with higher numbers of differentially expressed genes and more negative impacts on shell calcification. In the frame of WP3 the ER had the opportunity to give guest lectures at the University of Amsterdam, supervise two MSc students and do advanced training on genomic studies.
Other objectives of the EPIC action were to foster the career development of the ER and the transfer of skills between ER and members of the host research group, Plankton Diversity and Evolution, at Naturalis Biodiversity Center. These two objectives were largely achieved. The ER has established three new international collaborations, mentored and supervised four MSc students’ projects, and guest lectured at the University of Amsterdam. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak there were not so many opportunities to do outreach in person but the ER created a video about the EPIC project to reach broader audiences. The ER also had the opportunity to do advanced training in leadership and genomics by attending three online courses of one week duration each. While at Naturalis Dr. Ramos-Silva had the opportunity to visit the museum collection, have full access to specimens to do her own research and meet and discuss with taxonomists, collection managers, research analysts and other researchers.
The results of the action EPIC provide new reference material in ocean acidification research and beyond. They will help scientists to make more realistic predictions of the impacts of ocean acidification on marine calcifiers. The outputs of this action create public awareness for the impacts of increasing CO2 in the oceans. Dr. Ramos-Silva has recently presented her work at the ASLO Ocean Science Meeting 2022, an event that brings together researchers, conservationists, policy makers and journalists. She is also collaborating with material scientists from the AGH University of Science and Technology (Poland) and the University of Granada (Spain) to better understand the mechanical properties of sea butterflies’ shells and inspire the design of new biomimetic materials. Results from the EPIC action will be further explored by the ER to define her own research line and apply for external funding based in The Netherlands.