A Research Environment 2 km Deep-Underground Impacts Embryonic Development in Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis)

Abstract

Biological research conducted in deep-underground environments is limited due to the lack of scientific infrastructure to accommodate the investigations, and only a few studies have utilized complex whole organism models. In this study, lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) embryogenesis was examined in two different unique laboratory environments; at the Earth's surface and 2 km deep underground shielded from cosmic radiation. Established developmental endpoints and morphometric analysis were utilized to investigate differences between lake whitefish embryos reared in these two laboratories. No significant differences were observed between the surface and underground laboratories with respect to the timing of hatch or percent survival. However, a significant increase in body length and body weight of up to 10% was observed in embryos reared underground. These findings have been interpreted and discussed in the context of the novel research challenges faced in an inherently difficult to control deep-underground environment. This study represents one of the few investigations with an established whole organism model deep-underground and provides an opportunity to discuss the highly unique technical and logistical challenges of conducting biological experiments in this novel field of scientific research.

First transcriptome profiling of D. melanogaster after development in a deep underground low radiation background laboratory

“…Timing of hatch, percent survival and several morphometric parameters of the lake whitefish ( C . clupeaformis ) were studied in the SNOLAB pilot experiment [ 15 ]. Additionally, Moricano et al estimated several physiological parameters of D .…”

“…Effects of background ionizing radiation deprivation on organisms have been studied for the last two decades [ 6 , 11 – 17 ] in experiments performed in various locations, for instance, in the low-background chamber at Osaka University (Osaka, Japan) and several industrial underground tunnels, such as DUGL CJEM (Erdaogou Mine, China), BISAL (Boulby, UK) and WIPP (New Mexico, USA) [ 12 , 14 , 16 , 18 ]. But most of biological studies dealt with deep underground laboratories, namely: LNGS (Gran Sasso, Italy), LSM CNRS (Modane, France), SNOLAB (Sudbury, Canada), JINR/BNO INR RAS (Neutrino village, Russia) [ 7 , 11 , 15 , 17 , 19 – 21 ]. They were specially designed for neutrino low-radiation background observatories and are the most efficient places for experimental isolation from cosmic and terrestrial sources of radiation.…”

“…The current results were obtained in such experiments when model organisms were exposed to low-background conditions from several days to about one year [ 11 , 14 , 20 , 22 ]. Effects of low-radiation background on living organisms were determined by comparing experimental and control groups and by registering the changes in parameters suitable for experimental purposes, for instance, growth rate, lifespan, fertility, gene expression or protein abundance [ 12 – 15 , 20 ]. An additional difficulty in carrying out such experiments is the demand to control many external parameters which must be the same for groups of organisms placed in low-background conditions and for those left in natural background conditions.…”

“…It is important to note that many researchers who have conducted biological experiments in low-background laboratories, for instance, SNOLAB and DUGL CJEM, point out that some factors, not related to radiation, influence biological responses, which further complicates the analysis of the obtained data [ 12 , 15 ].…”

Underground Radiobiology: A Perspective at Gran Sasso National Laboratory

“…In our experience, Drosophila melanogaster has proven to be particularly responsive to changes in environmental radiation promptly modifying its physiological responses. However, in addition to flies, other organisms are currently being investigated, namely fishes at the SNOLAB ( 23 ) and nematodes at WIPP ( 24 ). The comparison between the responses of the organisms placed at different levels of the phylogenetic tree will provide interesting insights to understand the role of natural radiations in the adaptation and evolution of living organisms.…”