Proteomics to Assess the Role of Phenotypic Plasticity in Aquatic Organisms Exposed to Pollution and Global Warming

Abstract

Nowadays, the unprecedented rates of anthropogenic changes in ecosystems suggest that organisms have to migrate to new distributional ranges or to adapt commensurately quickly to new conditions to avoid becoming extinct. Pollution and global warming are two of the most important threats aquatic organisms will have to face in the near future. If genetic changes in a population in response to natural selection are extensively studied, the role of acclimation through phenotypic plasticity (the property of a given genotype to produce different phenotypes in response to particular environmental conditions) in a species to deal with new environmental conditions remains largely unknown. Proteomics is the extensive study of the protein complement of a genome. It is dynamic and depends on the specific tissue, developmental stage, and environmental conditions. As the final product of gene expression, it is subjected to several regulatory steps from gene transcription to the functional protein. Consequently, there is a discrepancy between the abundance of mRNA and the abundance of the corresponding protein. Moreover, proteomics is closer to physiology and gives a more functional knowledge of the regulation of gene expression than does transcriptomics. The study of protein-expression profiles, however, gives a better portrayal of the cellular phenotype and is considered as a key link between the genotype and the organismal phenotype. Under new environmental conditions, we can observe a shift of the protein-expression pattern defining a new cellular phenotype that can possibly improve the fitness of the organism. It is now necessary to define a proteomic norm of reaction for organisms acclimating to environmental stressors. Its link to fitness will give new insights into how organisms can evolve in a changing environment. The proteomic literature bearing on chronic exposure to pollutants and on acclimation to heat stress in aquatic organisms, as well as potential application of proteomics in evolutionary issues, are outlined. While the transcriptome responses are commonly investigated, proteomics approaches now need to be intensified, with the new perspective of integrating the cellular phenotype with the organismal phenotype and with the mechanisms of the regulation of gene expression, such as epigenetics.

Quantitative analysis of oyster larval proteome provides new insights into the effects of multiple climate change stressors

“…The observed proteome level acclimatory response to warming is likely to be an important determinant of the effects of projected regional and/or global warming scenarios on C. gigas. Such a short-term acclimation and phenotypic modification at proteome level would allow organisms to slightly shift its salinity and/or temperature optimum for different physiological activities (Silvestre et al, 2012). The mechanisms that driving the observed correlation between the proteome change and the physiological processes are not fully understood but are likely involved variety of temperature mediated elevated activates of enzyme production, transcriptional and translational regulation (Anestis et al, 2007).…”

“…Therefore, characterization of proteins involved in larval metamorphosis is required to predict both the short-term acclimation and longterm adaptive capacity of oysters to climate change. In the past decade, there has been an exponential growth in the use of mass spectrometry as a versatile tool in large-scale environmental proteomics studies (Silvestre et al, 2012;Slattery et al, 2012;Timmins-Schiffman et al, 2014). For example, OA was shown to reduce the expression of several proteins to conserve energy, but induced oxidative stress especially in cytoskeletal proteins (Tomanek et al, 2011).…”

Alteration of the Activities of Trypsin and Leucine Aminopeptidase in Gypsy Moth Caterpillars Exposed to Dietary Cadmium

“…Considering that an isozyme is a product of gene expression, it can be a biochemical indicator of stress tolerance and exhibit heritability and molecular variance. According to Silvestre et al (2012), proteome is a link between genotype and phenotype and a central factor of cellular phenotype. In human cells, cadmium induced genes which are related to cellular protection and detoxification mechanisms.…”

“…This article accents the significance of proteomics as a tool for determination of toxic effects of environmental stressors. Besides, these studies tend to integrate proteomics, genomics, and metabolomic informations and explain fundamental physiological processes which enable organisms to interact with new environments (Garcia-Reyero and Perkins 2011; Silvestre et al 2012).…”

Protein recycling in Bering Sea algal incubations

“…An examination of the early stage of diatom cell death in natural communities is required to better understand protein cycling prior to microbially catalyzed degradative processes. Proteomic studies on plant programmed cell death (Chivasa et al 2011, Choi et al 2011) and algal cell stress (Jamers et al 2009, Silvestre et al 2012 have identified potential indicators and regulators of proteomic alteration. In the Bering Sea, ice retreat modulates the highly productive, but temporally constrained spring bloom, which facilitates tracking of potential algal population markers for cell death and subsequently bloom termination.…”