School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Davy Building, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK.
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK.
J Comp Physiol B. 2024 Dec;194(6):779-792. doi: 10.1007/s00360-024-01582-0. Epub 2024 Sep 11.
Biological processes in intertidal species follow tidal rhythms that enhance survival and fitness. Whereas tidal effects on behaviour and metabolic rates have been widely studied, impacts on other key process such as protein synthesis are still poorly understood. To date, no studies have examined the effect of immersion/emersion and tidal cycles on protein synthesis rates (k). Patella vulgata is an intertidal limpet present in North-Eastern Atlantic rocky shores from high to low shore. Previously reported P. vulgata respiration and heart rate measurements suggest aerobic metabolism is maintained during emersion and growth rates increase from high to low shore, but whether these patterns are reflected in k is currently unclear. Here, we measured for the first time in any intertidal organism, k, RNA to protein ratios and RNA translational efficiency (k) in P. vulgata over a full tidal cycle, at three different shore heights. k increased during emersion (p < 0.001) and was significantly higher in low shore animals compared to the other shore heights (p < 0.001), additionally k was negatively correlated to body mass (p = 0.002). RNA to protein ratios remained unchanged over the tidal cycle (p = 0.659) and did not vary with shore height (p = 0.591). k was significantly higher during emersion and was also higher in low shore limpets (p < 0.001). This study demonstrates that P. vulgata increases k during emersion, an important adaptation in a species that spends a considerable amount of its lifecycle emersed. Intertidal species are highly exposed to increasing air temperatures, making knowledge of physiological responses during emersion critical in understanding and forecasting climate warming impacts.
潮间带物种的生物过程遵循潮汐节律，从而提高了生存和适应能力。尽管潮汐对行为和代谢率的影响已得到广泛研究，但对其他关键过程（如蛋白质合成）的影响仍知之甚少。迄今为止，尚无研究探讨浸泡/暴露和潮汐周期对蛋白质合成速率（k）的影响。贻贝是一种生活在东北大西洋潮间带岩石海岸的腹足纲软体动物，从高潮带至低潮带都有分布。先前的研究报告表明，贻贝的呼吸和心率测量表明，在暴露于空气中时，其需氧代谢得以维持，并且从高潮带到低潮带，生长速度会增加，但这些模式是否反映在 k 中尚不清楚。在这里，我们首次在任何潮间带生物中测量了贻贝在整个潮汐周期内、三个不同潮间带高度的 k、RNA 到蛋白质的比率和 RNA 翻译效率（k）。k 在暴露于空气中时增加（p<0.001），并且在低潮带动物中显著高于其他潮间带高度（p<0.001），此外，k 与体重呈负相关（p=0.002）。RNA 到蛋白质的比率在潮汐周期内保持不变（p=0.659），并且不受潮间带高度的影响（p=0.591）。k 在暴露于空气中时显著增加，并且在低潮带贻贝中也更高（p<0.001）。这项研究表明，贻贝在暴露于空气中时会增加 k，这是一种在其生命周期中有相当一部分时间暴露于空气中的物种的重要适应。潮间带物种高度暴露于不断升高的空气温度下，因此了解暴露期间的生理反应对于理解和预测气候变暖的影响至关重要。
