Does the Environment or the Source of the Population Define Stress Status and Energy Supply in the Freshwater Amphipod, Gammarus fossarum?

Abstract

To investigate the effects of acclimation and/or adaptation on the stress protein (hsc/hsp70) response, adenylate energy charge (ACE), ATP/ADP ratio and both lipid and glycogen supply, specimens of four different populations of the freshwater amphipod Gammarus fossarum (Koch, 1835) were transplanted and exposed at sites with various levels of pollution. Induction of the stress protein response was highest in those gammarids transplanted from nearly unpolluted or just moderately polluted sites to severely polluted stream portions. The lowest hsc/hsp70 levels were found in animals transplanted from the polluted sites to the less polluted sites. In all cases the adenylic energy charge (AEC) and ATP/ADP ratio did not show any deficiency in the cellular energy supply. The amount of energy storage substrates, lipid droplets and glycogen in the hepatopancreas, the main metabolic tissue, was similar in all resident populations. In all these amphipod populations, tolerant phenotypes which had diverged genetically were not revealed; rather, the stress and recovery effects derived from the physiologically regulated, cellular stress response.

Physiological indicators of fitness in benthic invertebrates: a useful measure for ecological health assessment and experimental ecology

“…Some recent comparative studies examine the energy metabolism and energy storage substances in benthic invertebrates. However, they focus either on endogenous physiological processes like the moulting cycles of crustaceans (Wang et al 2003) or on the influences of single abiotic factors such as toxic contaminations (Datry et al 2003;Schill and Koehler 2004a). Several recent studies in stream ecology have evaluated the significance of the quality and quantity of food available for standard metabolic rate, growth, reproduction and energy transfer from adult aquatic invertebrates to their offspring (Hervant and Renault 2002;Wilhelm 2002;Wissinger et al 2004).…”

Sex-specific biochemical and histological differences in gonads of sea urchins (Psammechinus miliaris) and their response to phenanthrene exposure

“…Therefore, Ivanovici (1980) proposed the use of EC as an index for environmental stress. Since the 1980s, EC values have been measured in laboratory and field studies of polluted populations, to assess sublethal effects of chemical compounds on aquatic organisms (Verschraegen et al, 1985;Marazza et al, 1996;Schill and Köhler, 2004).…”

Metallothionein-Like Proteins and Energy Reserve Levels after Ni and Pb Exposure in the Pacific White PrawnPenaeus vannamei

“…In some cases, energy production can be altered by metals like mercury and zinc by increasing the lactate dehydrogenase activity, enzyme involved in energy production, as was observed in the crab Carcinus maenas [77]. The fact that no significant changes were observed in the hepatopancreas, which showed to be the main target organ for Pb, suggests that the concentration of metal in solution tested in this study is not sufficient to compromise the amount of energy available in these tissues, and it is enough to cover the detoxification process trigger under the stress simulated in the hepatopancreas [74], or involves alternative mechanisms to mitigate the adverse effect [73]. It is possible that higher metal concentrations, near lethal concentrations and longer exposure periods, could induce significant changes in the energy reserve, as has been observed in P. indicus exposed to Pb [73], but further studies are required in P. vannamei .…”

“…Energy reserves are of importance considering (among others) its use in detoxification processes [72–74]. In this respect, the concentration of lipids (Figure 2) and glycogen (Figure 3) did not change in the hepatopancreas.…”