Multi-stressor impacts on coastal Antarctic and temperate sea urchins

世界沿海海洋正在经历一个前所未有的快速变化时期，这主要是由人类引起的气候变化和向环境中释放化学污染物造成的。随着气温上升和有毒物质的积累，极地地区显得特别脆弱，这表明它们的协同效应可能导致许多物种的适应性丧失、招募和生存。然而，总的来说，生命具有很强的适应性，遗传和表观遗传学是保护后代免受父母暴露于环境压力因素影响的持久机制。为了更好地理解沿海关键物种的适应和恢复能力，我们建议比较南极和温带海胆作为分子、遗传、表观遗传和跨代效应的模型。了解多重压力源的影响对于充分了解生物体所处的环境以及改变这些条件的影响至关重要。本项目的总体目标是了解极端纬度条件下成体预处理对海胆产卵成功率的影响，以及对多应激源的配子/胚胎敏感性对DNA损伤敏感性和修复的影响。该项目将采用生态基因毒理学方法来解决三个具体目标：目标1：将南极水族馆（英国南极考察队的新海胆）和同家族的温带海胆（如沙曼海胆）种群置于本世纪末水温升高（+2度）的条件下。目的2：在1年和2年的驯化后，在急性多重应激暴露（如盐度降低和化学遗传毒性污染物）下产卵，研究预处理后的多重应激反应。目的3评估急性多重应激暴露后成虫、配子、胚胎和幼虫的活力、发育和存活；发展和评估DNA损伤，DNA修复和表观遗传调控。

Coastal seas of the world are experiencing an unprecedented period of rapid change that is driven largely by human-induced alterations in climate and release of chemical contaminants into the environment. Polar areas appear particularly vulnerable as temperatures rise and toxicants accumulate suggesting that their synergistic effects could result in loss of fitness, recruitment, and survival in many species. However, life in general is very adaptable, with heritability and epigenetics as enduring mechanisms that shield future generations from effects of parental exposure to environmental stressors. To better understand adaptation and resilience in coastal keystone species, we propose to compare Antarctic and temperate sea urchins as models of molecular, genetic, epigenetic, and transgenerational effects. Understanding impacts from multiple stressors is critical to fully understand the environment which organisms are living in, and the impacts of changing those conditions. The overall aim of this project is to understand adult preconditioning impacts on spawning success and gamete/embryo sensitivity to multi-stressor impacts on DNA damage susceptibility and repair in sea urchin populations from latitudinal extremes. The project will take an eco-genotoxicological approach to address three specific objectives: Objective 1 Precondition aquarium stocks of Antarctic (Sterechinus neumayeri, British Antarctic Survey), and co-familial temperate (e.g., Psammechinus miliaris) sea urchins to end-century elevated water temperatures (+2degrees). Objective 2 Spawn both Antarctic and temperature species after 1 and 2 years acclimation followed by acute multi-stress exposures (e.g., reduced salinity and chemical genotoxic pollutant) to investigate multi-stress response after preconditioning. Objective 3 Assess adult, gamete, embryo, and larvae viability, development, and survival after acute multi-stress exposure; develop and assess DNA damage, DNA repair, and epigenetic regulation.