"Transcriptomes and aquifers: How do cave shrimp respond to change?" Danielle Bragg (Pres 12: 5ISAE)
This presentation was a part of the 5th International Symposium on Anchialine Ecosystems (5ISAE), held in Kailua-Kona November 3-5, 2022.
Presentation 12: "Transcriptomes and aquifers: How do anchialine cave shrimp respond to salinity and environmental change?"
Session 3: Mexico & Caribbean - Biological & Earth Sciences
Presentation Authors: Danielle Bragg (1), Efrain Chavez-Solis (2), Cody Campbell (1), Omar Carrillo (3), Maite Mascaro (4), Elizabeth Borda (1)
Affiliations: (1) Department of Life Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA; (2) Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico; (3) Department of Biology, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, Texas, USA; (4) Unidad Multidisciplinaria de Docencia e Investigación, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto de Abrigo S/N, Sisal, Yucatán, Mexico
Presentation Abstract: Karst Subterranean Estuaries (KSEs) of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, are coastal ecosystems characterized by stratified water layers (freshwater--marine), with direct and/or indirect connections to the surrounding ocean and to an extensive freshwater aquifer. Also known as anchialine caves, KSEs are dominated by taxonomically diverse crustaceans that exhibit strict adaptations to cave (e.g., complete darkness, hypoxic conditions, and limited organic inputs) and salinity conditions. Species of the shrimp genus Typhlatya belong to an anchialine adapted clade within the freshwater shrimp family Atyidae. Recent phylogenetic work identified the Yucatan Typhlatya dzilamensis as coastally restricted within KSEs (greater than 500 km distribution range) and euryhaline (oligohaline--saline), as a secondary adaptation. The goal of this study is to gain insight into the genes that potentially support adaptation to anchialine habitats, specifically in response to environmental and salinity change. Transcriptome data of Typhlatya dzilamensis were de novo assembled, functionally annotated, and screened for genes (~40 identified) associated with respiration (aerobic and anaerobic), osmoregulation, oxidative stress, and response to environmental stimuli. Functional gene expression profiles of specimens exposed to fresh (0 psu) and brackish (15 psu) water for 15 minutes, respectively, with native water (greater than 30 psu) specimens serving as a control, were evaluated to investigate the biological, cellular and molecular basis underlying the salinity preferences and deeper cave specific adaptation of T. dzilamensis relative to congenerics associated with the low salinity meteoric lens ( less than 5 psu) and cavernous regions where light may still penetrate.