How does ocean acidification affect Zostera marina during a marine heatwave?

Wenjie Yan, Zhaohua Wang, Yanzhao Pei, Bin Zhou

Journal: Marine pollution bulletin 2023;194(Pt B):115394

PMID: 37598524

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

Extreme ocean events caused by global warming, such as marine heatwaves (MHWs) and ocean acidification (OA), are projected to intensify. A combination of extreme events may have severe consequences for marine ecosystems. Zostera marina was selected to understand how seagrass adapts to OA in extremely hot conditions. By combining morphology, transcriptomics, and metabolomics under mesoscale experimental conditions, we systematically investigated the response characteristics of Z. marina. Extremely high temperatures had a pronounced effect on growth, and the combined effect of OA mitigated the inhibitory effect of MHW. Both transcriptomic and metabolomic results showed that Z. marina resisted OA and MHW by upregulating the TCA cycle, glycolysis, amino acid metabolism, and relevant genes, as well as by activating the antioxidant system. The results of this study serve to improve our understanding of dual effects of factors of climate change on seagrass and may be used to direct future management and conservation efforts.

Address: Key Laboratory of Mariculture, Ocean University of China, Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266003, China. Electronic address: [email protected].; First Institute of Oceanography, MNR, Qingdao 266061, China.; College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China.; College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115394

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MeSH Terms: Ocean Acidification, Zosteraceae, Ecosystem, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, Seawater