Differences in osmotolerance in freshwater and brackish water populations of Theodoxus fluviatilis (Gastropoda: Neritidae) are associated with differential protein expression

The euryhaline gastropod Theodoxus fluviatilis is found in northern Germany in freshwater or in brackish water habitats in the Baltic Sea. Previous studies have revealed that individuals from both habitats are not distinguishable by morphological characters or by sequence comparison of DNA encoding 16S RNA or cytochrome C. As reported in this study, animals collected in the two habitats differ substantially in their physiological ability to adapt to different salinities. Comparison of accumulation rates of ninhydrin-positive substances (NPS) in foot muscle upon transfer of animals to higher medium salinities revealed that brackish water animals were perfectly able to mobilize NPS, while freshwater animals had only limited ability to do so. In an attempt to explore whether this difference in physiology may be caused by genetic differentiation, we compared protein expression patterns of soluble foot muscle proteins using 2D gel electrophoresis and silver staining. Of the 40 consistently detected protein spots, 27 showed similar levels in protein expression in animals collected from freshwater or brackish water habitats, respectively. In 12 spots, however, protein concentration was higher in brackish water than in freshwater animals. In four of these spots, expression levels followed increases or decreases in medium salinities. In a different set of 4 of these 12 spots, protein levels were always higher in brackish water as compared to freshwater animals, regardless of their physiological situation (14 days in artificial pond water or in medium with a salinity of 16‰). The remaining 4 of the 12 spots had complex expression patterns. Protein levels of the remaining single spot were generally higher in freshwater animals than in brackish water animals. These expression patterns may indicate that freshwater and brackish water animals of T. fluviatilis belong to different locally adapted populations with subtle genetic differentiation

Genetic diversity of the pan-european freshwater mussel Anodonta anatina (bivalvia : unionoida) based on CO1 : new phylogenetic insights and implications for conservation

1. The duck mussel, Anodonta anatina, has been described as abundant and widespread in Europe. However, it is listed as near threatened or threatened in several countries owing to severe declines in abundance and/or spatial distribution. 2. Despite its potential ecological importance and conservation status almost nothing is known regarding its genetic diversity. 3. As a preliminary analysis, variation within the cytochrome oxidase 1 mitochondrial gene was determined from European specimens from Portugal in the south west, to Ukraine in the east, and Sweden in the north. 4. Three major mtDNA clades were retrieved: clade 1 includes all the individuals from Iberia, except those from the Ebro basin; clade 2 includes all the European non-Iberian and non-Italian samples; and clade 3 includes all the individuals from Italy and from the Ebro basin. AMOVA analysis revealed significant genetic differences among the three clades. Within each of the major clades, several geographically related haplogroups were also retrieved, especially in Iberia, where four genetically distinct groups (North-West, South-Central, South-West and Ebro) were revealed. 5. Given the evidence of regional declines of A. anatina in Europe, the confirmation of geographically distinct genotypes indicates a need for the development of management strategies directed towards the conservation of localized populationsThis work was supported financially by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) project PTDC/AAC-AMB/117688/2010, and partly by the European Regional Development Fund through COMPETE, under the project PEst-C/MAR/LA0015/2011. We would like to thank our collaborators who kindly provided us with tissue samples: Erika Bodis, Karel Douda, Oksana Stolyar, Arpad Benko-Kiss, Nicoletta Riccardi. Marianna Soroka and Larissa Yanovich gave us the exact locations of their previously sequenced animals. We thank Jose Maria Irurita, Jose Miguel Barea Azcon, Keiko Nakamura, Pablo Redin and Esther Penin for all their help during the Spanish field campaigns. Official capture and sampling licences were issued by Junta de Castilla y Leon (Consejeria de Fomento y Medio Ambiente EP/CYL/331/2012, de 17 de Abril de 2012); Junta de Andalucia (Consejeria de Medio Ambiente- SGYB/FOA/AFR/SFS, de 17 de Julio de 2012); Xunta de Galicia (Conselleria de Medio Ambiente- 539/2012 de 15 de Setembro de 2012); Gobierno de Aragon (Direccion General de Conservacion del Medio Natural- 136.071/2012 de 12 de Julio de 2012)

Partnerships for Innovation: The Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE

The Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE was a $2 million global competition that challenged teams of engineers, scientists and innovators from all over the world to create pH sensor technology that could affordably, accurately and efficiently measure ocean chemistry from its shallowest waters to its deepest depths

Potential Targets and Benefits for Sustainable Communities Research, Development, and, Demonstration

The Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program of the California Energy Commission has recognized the importance of sustainable communities to improving the efficiency, cost, and social and environmental impacts of energy use in California.In order for sustainable communities research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) funded by the PIER program to be effective, it is important to understand and optimize the energy-related aspects of land use planning and community design. In this white paper, a research teamfrom the UCLA Institute of the Environment identifies a unifying framework for sustainable communities researchby the PIER Program that explicitly considers sustainability with respect to energy production and use in California communities. In this context, a sustainable community is one that minimizes throughputs of energy and materials through efficient and socially sensitive production, distribution, use, and reuse of those materials and energy. The research team identifies an urban metabolism framework as the most effective framework to meet the criteria and needs of the PIER Program. Ideally, this framework for sustainable communities will guide and integrate research efforts among the PIER Program’s seven subject areas so that sustainable communities RD&D funded by the PIER Program can provide optimal benefits to California