Exploring the Boundaries of Metazoan Thermotolerance at Hydrothermal Vents: Respiration and Protein Expression of Paralvinellid Worms
EMSL Project ID
34696
Abstract
As evidence of global climate change mounts, there is a growing impetus to examine the responses of metazoan life to increasing thermal pressure. Organismal thermotolerance has been the subject of many investigations, but the advent of new methods and technologies such as protein sequencing and quantification via LC MS/MS and top-down proteomic analyses using FTICR now offer new avenues of inquiry. Similarly, advances in engineering have made organisms from extreme environments available for biological research. Deep-sea hydrothermal vents, discovered just thirty year ago, provide a unique opportunity to examine thermotolerance in one of the most extreme environments on Earth. Unique to these vents, the annelid worm Paralvinella sulfincola has an exemplary thermal range from approximately 5°C to 55°C, one of the most thermotolerant organisms on the planet. Surprisingly, its close relative, Paralvinella palmiformis - which often occupies the same habitat as P. sulfincola- has a significantly lower thermal limit of 40°C. Both species, amenable to live recovery and experimentation, were collected from the Juan de Fuca Ridge and maintained in shipboard high pressure respirometry systems under a wide variety of thermal regimes and flash-frozen for biomolecular analysis. Our objective here is to employ protein sequencing of experimentally treated P. sulfincola and P. palmiformis to identify suites of biochemical factors that enable extreme thermotolerance. Additionally, we will investigate differential expression between tissues (gut, gill and epithelial) and use FTICR to explore variation in isoform expression in heat shock proteins under stress conditions. By thoroughly characterizing global proteomic responses to thermal changes in extreme environments, we can identify biochemical risk indicators for all organisms, including those living in threatened and sensitive environments. These stress factors will be integral to understanding the capabilities and limitations of organisms to adapt and maintain proper cellular function under increasing thermal pressure. The unique combination of mass spectrometric instrumentation and the expertise that EMSL provides is vital to the success of these objectives. The data provided by these runs will provide the first coupling between biomolecular function and respiratory data for animals under extreme thermal duress. This will be a significant advance in the fields of thermobiology and deep sea biology.
Project Details
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2009-10-09
End Date
2012-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members