Pollutant resilience in embryos of the Antarctic sea urchin Sterechinus neumayeri reflects maternal antioxidant status

Effects of exposure to gadolinium on the development of geographically and phylogenetically distant sea urchins species

“…As predicted, H. tuberculata embryos were much more sensitive to the Gd exposure then the other three species, suggesting that the need to deposit more calcite and construct a robust larval skeleton may be an indication of sensitivity. The differences in the sensitivity of the species to Gd may also be related to their different habitats and perhaps pollution history of the parental population, a transgenerational effect as seen for the progeny of other invertebrates from polluted sites (Lister et al, 2015). This is a form of developmental plasticity through the influence of environment on gamete quality (Ghalambor et al, 2015;Hamdoun and Epel, 2007).…”

Contributions of genetic and environmental variance in early development of the Antarctic sea urchin Sterechinus neumayeri in response to increased ocean temperature and acidification

“…stress proteins) loaded into sea urchin eggs during oogenesis (Hamdoun and Epel 2007). For S. neumayeri, maternal protective factors are important in reducing oxidative damage to the lipids of embryos where adult sea urchins exposed to oxidative stress produce eggs with greater levels of antioxidants (Lister et al 2015).…”

Maternal antioxidant provisioning mitigates pollutant-induced oxidative damage in embryos of the temperate sea urchin Evechinus chloroticus

“…Adult gonad, released gametes and embryo tissues were analysed according to established biochemical methods 19, 25 . Details of these methods can be found in S1 Materials and Methods .…”

“…Despite their widespread use as model organisms, studies employing oxidative stress biomarkers in echinoderms are few 15, 18, 19, 24–26 and our knowledge regarding the stage(s) of development at which marine invertebrate embryos start to generate their own antioxidant systems rather than relying on those that are maternally derived is limited. Furthermore, studies that have examined impacts of pollutants on a wide range of marine invertebrates rarely include a full suite of oxidative stress markers or examine the potential costs associated with the increased energy utilised for defence and repair 25–27 .…”