Molecular and biochemical responses of vitellogenin in the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis exposed to the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup® Power 2.0.

Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) occur in aquatic ecosystems at concentrations of hundreds of micrograms per liter. As formulation adjuvants are suspected to be endocrine-disrupting chemicals, we assessed the effects of the recent GBH formulation Roundup® Power 2.0 on vitellogenin (VTG) in Mytilus galloprovincialis.

Fish assemblages cope with ocean acidification in a shallow volcanic CO vent benefiting from an adjacent recovery area.

Shallow CO vents are used to test ecological hypotheses about the effects of ocean acidification (OA). Here, we studied fish assemblages associated with Cymodocea nodosa meadows exposed to high pCO/low pH conditions at a natural CO vent in the Mediterranean Sea. Using underwater visual census, we assessed fish community structure and biodiversity in a low pH site (close to the CO vent), a close control site and a far control site, hypothesising a decline in biodiversity and a homogenization of fish assemblages under OA conditions.

Patterns in microbiome composition differ with ocean acidification in anatomic compartments of the Mediterranean coral Astroides calycularis living at CO vents.

Coral microbiomes, the complex microbial communities associated with the different anatomic compartments of the coral, provide important functions for the host's survival, such as nutrient cycling at the host's surface, prevention of pathogens colonization, and promotion of nutrient uptake. Microbiomes are generally referred to as plastic entities, able to adapt their composition and functionality in response to environmental change, with a possible impact on coral acclimatization to phenomena related to climate change, such as ocean acidification. Ocean sites characterized by natural gradients of pCO provide models for investigating the ability of marine organisms to acclimatize to decreasing seawater pH.

Resistance of seagrass habitats to ocean acidification via altered interactions in a tri-trophic chain.

Despite the wide knowledge about prevalent effects of ocean acidification on single species, the consequences on species interactions that may promote or prevent habitat shifts are still poorly understood. Using natural CO vents, we investigated changes in a key tri-trophic chain embedded within all its natural complexity in seagrass systems. We found that seagrass habitats remain stable at vents despite the changes in their tri-trophic components.

Ecotoxicological hazard of a mixture of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid to the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck 1819).

Assessment of the effects of chemical mixtures is a very important objective of the ecotoxicological risk assessment. This study was aimed at evaluating for the first time the effects of a mixture of glyphosate and its main breakdown product aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) on various biomarkers in the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. Mussels were exposed for 7, 14 and 21 days to either 100 µg/L of glyphosate, 100 µg/L of AMPA or a mixture of both (100 + 100 µg/L).

Living in future ocean acidification, physiological adaptive responses of the immune system of sea urchins resident at a CO vent system.

The effects of ocean acidification, a major anthropogenic impact on marine life, have been mainly investigated in laboratory/mesocosm experiments. We used the CO vents at Ischia as a natural laboratory to study the long-term effects of ocean acidification on the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus population resident in low-pH (7.8 ± 0.

Glyphosate affects haemocyte parameters in the clam Ruditapes philippinarum.

This study was aimed at evaluating the effects of glyphosate on haemocyte parameters of the clam Ruditapes philippinarum. Clams were exposed for 7 days to differing glyphosate concentrations (10, 100 and 1000 μg/L) and various haemocyte parameters were measured, such as total haemocyte count (THC), haemocyte diameter and volume, haemocyte proliferation, haemolymph lactate dehydrogenase activity, haemocyte lysate lysozyme and acid phosphatase activities. Glyphosate reduced significantly THC values, while increased both diameter and volume of haemocytes.

Effects of short-term and long-term exposure to ocean acidification on carbonic anhydrase activity and morphometric characteristics in the invasive polychaete Branchiomma boholense (Annelida: Sabellidae): A case-study from a CO vent system.

The aim of this study was to test the effects of short- and long-term exposure to high pCO on the invasive polychaete Branchiomma boholense (Grube, 1878), (Sabellidae), through the implementation of a transplant experiment at the CO vents of the Castello Aragonese at the island of Ischia (Italy). Analysis of carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity, protein tissue content and morphometric characteristics were performed on transplanted individuals (short-term exposure) as well as on specimens resident to both normal and low pH/high pCO environments (long-term exposure). Results obtained on transplanted worms showed no significant differences in CA activity between individuals exposed to control and acidified conditions, while a decrease in weight was observed under short-term acclimatization to both control and low pH, although at low pH the decrease was more pronounced (∼20%).

Functional biodiversity loss along natural CO gradients.

The effects of environmental change on biodiversity are still poorly understood. In particular, the consequences of shifts in species composition for marine ecosystem function are largely unknown. Here we assess the loss of functional diversity, i.

Clarifying the taxonomic status of the alien species Branchiomma bairdi and Branchiomma boholense (Annelida: Sabellidae) using molecular and morphological evidence.

This study was performed to analyse the genetic and morphological diversity of the sabellid annelid genus Branchiomma, with special emphasis on a taxon so far identified as Branchiomma bairdi. This species, originally described from Bermuda, has frequently been reported as an invader in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the Eastern Pacific, but recent observations have raised some taxonomic questions. Samples of this taxon were collected from five sites in the Mediterranean Sea, two sites in the original distribution area of B.

Regional and local environmental conditions do not shape the response to warming of a marine habitat-forming species.

The differential response of marine populations to climate change remains poorly understood. Here, we combine common garden thermotolerance experiments in aquaria and population genetics to disentangle the factors driving the population response to thermal stress in a temperate habitat-forming species: the octocoral Paramuricea clavata. Using eight populations separated from tens of meters to hundreds of kilometers, which were differentially impacted by recent mortality events, we identify 25 °C as a critical thermal threshold.

Ocean acidification as a driver of community simplification via the collapse of higher-order and rise of lower-order consumers.

Increasing oceanic uptake of CO is predicted to drive ecological change as both a resource (i.e. CO enrichment on primary producers) and stressor (i.

Automated culture of aquatic model organisms: shrimp larvae husbandry for the needs of research and aquaculture.

Modern research makes frequent use of animal models, that is, organisms raised and bred experimentally in order to help the understanding of biological and chemical processes affecting organisms or whole environments. The development of flexible, reprogrammable and modular systems that may help the automatic production of 'not-easy-to-keep' species is important for scientific purposes and for such aquaculture needs as the production of alive foods, the culture of small larvae and the test of new culture procedures. For this reason, we planned and built a programmable experimental system adaptable to the culture of various aquatic organisms, at different developmental stages.

Altered epiphyte community and sea urchin diet in Posidonia oceanica meadows in the vicinity of volcanic CO vents.

Ocean acidification (OA) predicted for 2100 is expected to shift seagrass epiphyte communities towards the dominance of more tolerant non-calcifying taxa. However, little is known about the indirect effects of such changes on food provision to key seagrass consumers. We found that epiphyte communities of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica in two naturally acidified sites (i.

Structure and biodiversity of coralligenous assemblages dominated by the precious red coral Corallium rubrum over broad spatial scales.

Data on species diversity and structure in coralligenous outcrops dominated by Corallium rubrum are lacking. A hierarchical sampling including 3 localities and 9 sites covering more than 400 km of rocky coasts in NW Mediterranean, was designed to characterize the spatial variability of structure, composition and diversity of perennial species inhabiting coralligenous outcrops. We estimated species/taxa composition and abundance.

Lifestyle and DNA base composition in polychaetes.

A comparative analysis of polychaete species, classified as motile and low-motile forms, highlighted that the former were characterized not only by a higher metabolic rate (MR), but also by a higher genomic GC content. The fluctuation of both variables was not affected by the phylogenetic relationship of the species. Thus, present results further support that a very active lifestyle affects MR and GC at the same time, showing an unexpected similarity between invertebrates and vertebrates.

Coralline algae in a naturally acidified ecosystem persist by maintaining control of skeletal mineralogy and size.

To understand the effects of ocean acidification (OA) on marine calcifiers, the trade-offs among different sublethal responses within individual species and the emergent effects of these trade-offs must be determined in an ecosystem setting. Crustose coralline algae (CCA) provide a model to test the ecological consequences of such sublethal effects as they are important in ecosystem functioning, service provision, carbon cycling and use dissolved inorganic carbon to calcify and photosynthesize. Settlement tiles were placed in ambient pH, low pH and extremely low pH conditions for 14 months at a natural CO vent.

An assessment of local adaptation in a calcifying polychaete from a shallow CO vent system.

Ocean acidification (OA) is likely to exert selective pressure on natural populations. Our ability to predict which marine species will adapt to OA and what underlies this adaptive potential is of high conservation and resource management priority. Using a naturally low-pH vent site in the Mediterranean Sea (Castello Aragonese, Ischia) mirroring projected future OA conditions, we carried out a reciprocal transplant experiment to investigate the relative importance of phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation in two populations of the sessile, calcifying polychaete sp.

Persistent natural acidification drives major distribution shifts in marine benthic ecosystems.

Ocean acidification is receiving increasing attention because of its potential to affect marine ecosystems. Rare CO2 vents offer a unique opportunity to investigate the response of benthic ecosystems to acidification. However, the benthic habitats investigated so far are mainly found at very shallow water (less than or equal to 5 m depth) and therefore are not representative of the broad range of continental shelf habitats.