Adaptations of wild populations of the estuarine fish Fundulus heteroclitus to persistent environmental contaminants

1999 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Nacci ◽  
L. Coiro ◽  
D. Champlin ◽  
S. Jayaraman ◽  
R. McKinney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fundulus Heteroclitus ◽  
Environmental Contaminants ◽  
Estuarine Fish ◽  
Wild Populations

scholarly journals Sequence and functional characterization of hypoxia-inducible factors, HIF1α, HIF2αa, and HIF3α, from the estuarine fish, Fundulus heteroclitus

2017 ◽  
Vol 312 (3) ◽  
pp. R412-R425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian K. Townley ◽  
Sibel I. Karchner ◽  
Elena Skripnikova ◽  
Thomas E. Wiese ◽  
Mark E. Hahn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcription Factors ◽  
Fundulus Heteroclitus ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Hypoxia Inducible Factor ◽  
Estuarine Fish ◽  
Low Oxygen ◽  
Aryl Hydrocarbon ◽  
Transactivation Domains

The hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) family of transcription factors plays central roles in the development, physiology, pathology, and environmental adaptation of animals. Because many aquatic habitats are characterized by episodes of low dissolved oxygen, fish represent ideal models to study the roles of HIF in the response to aquatic hypoxia. The estuarine fish Fundulus heteroclitus is found in habitats prone to hypoxia. It responds to low oxygen via behavioral, physiological, and molecular changes, and one member of the HIF family, HIF2α, has been previously described. Herein, cDNA sequencing, phylogenetic analyses, and genomic approaches were used to determine other members of the HIFα family from F. heteroclitus and their relationships to HIFα subunits from other vertebrates. In vitro and cellular approaches demonstrated that full-length forms of HIF1α, HIF2α, and HIF3α independently formed complexes with the β-subunit, aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator, to bind to hypoxia response elements and activate reporter gene expression. Quantitative PCR showed that HIFα mRNA abundance varied among organs of normoxic fish in an isoform-specific fashion. Analysis of the F. heteroclitus genome revealed a locus encoding a second HIF2α—HIF2αb—a predicted protein lacking oxygen sensing and transactivation domains. Finally, sequence analyses demonstrated polymorphism in the coding sequence of each F. heteroclitus HIFα subunit, suggesting that genetic variation in these transcription factors may play a role in the variation in hypoxia responses among individuals or populations.

scholarly journals Interindividual plasticity in metabolic and thermal tolerance traits from populations subjected to recent anthropogenic heating

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 210440
Author(s):  
Melissa K. Drown ◽  
Amanda N. DeLiberto ◽  
Moritz A. Ehrlich ◽  
Douglas L. Crawford ◽  
Marjorie F. Oleksiak
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Thermal Tolerance ◽  
Fundulus Heteroclitus ◽  
Local Heating ◽  
Temperature Acclimation ◽  
Interindividual Variation ◽  
Estuarine Fish ◽  
Acclimation Temperature ◽  
Seasonal Temperature ◽  
Climate Change Responses

To better understand temperature's role in the interaction between local evolutionary adaptation and physiological plasticity, we investigated acclimation effects on metabolic performance and thermal tolerance among natural Fundulus heteroclitus (small estuarine fish) populations from different thermal environments. Fundulus heteroclitus populations experience large daily and seasonal temperature variations, as well as local mean temperature differences across their large geographical cline. In this study, we use three populations: one locally heated (32°C) by thermal effluence (TE) from the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, NJ, and two nearby reference populations that do not experience local heating (28°C). After acclimation to 12 or 28°C, we quantified whole-animal metabolic (WAM) rate, critical thermal maximum (CT max ) and substrate-specific cardiac metabolic rate (CaM, substrates: glucose, fatty acids, lactate plus ketones plus ethanol, and endogenous (i.e. no added substrates)) in approximately 160 individuals from these three populations. Populations showed few significant differences due to large interindividual variation within populations. In general, for WAM and CT max , the interindividual variation in acclimation response (log 2 ratio 28/12°C) was a function of performance at 12°C and order of acclimation (12–28°C versus 28–12°C). CT max and WAM were greater at 28°C than 12°C, although WAM had a small change (2.32-fold) compared with the expectation for a 16°C increase in temperature (expect 3- to 4.4-fold). By contrast, for CaM, the rates when acclimatized and assayed at 12 or 28°C were nearly identical. The small differences in CaM between 12 and 28°C temperature were partially explained by cardiac remodeling where individuals acclimatized to 12°C had larger hearts than individuals acclimatized to 28°C. Correlation among physiological traits was dependent on acclimation temperature. For example, WAM was negatively correlated with CT max at 12°C but positively correlated at 28°C. Additionally, glucose substrate supported higher CaM than fatty acid, and fatty acid supported higher CaM than lactate, ketones and alcohol (LKA) or endogenous. However, these responses were highly variable with some individuals using much more FA than glucose. These findings suggest interindividual variation in physiological responses to temperature acclimation and indicate that additional research investigating interindividual may be relevant for global climate change responses in many species.

Fine structure of the fish chloride cell associated with both acute and chronic exposure to mercury

1978 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 452-453
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Koepp ◽  
NAncy C. Dorato
Keyword(s):  
Fine Structure ◽  
Mercuric Chloride ◽  
Chronic Exposure ◽  
Fundulus Heteroclitus ◽  
Osmium Tetroxide ◽  
Chloride Cell ◽  
Estuarine Fish ◽  
Environmental Concentration ◽  
Acute And Chronic Exposure ◽  
Cell Versus

Prior cytopathologic studies have demonstrated the sensitivity of fish respiratory and transporting epithelia to mercurials. Despite a well-documented role in extrarenal osmoregulation, the specific involvement of the teleost chloride cell in mercurialism has not been reported. This paper describes the response of this primary filament cell versus acute and chronic exposure to mercuric chloride. The estuarine fish (Fundulus heteroclitus) was used as the target organism. Locally-collected male mummichogs (3. 5-4. 5 g) were acclimated in the laboratory two weeks prior to use. For acute contaminations fish were incubated in artificial seawater containing one of three concentrations of mercury (0. 25, 0. 75 and 1. 50 mg/1) at 20 C and 20 o/oo salinity. In a similar manner other fish were exposed for 30 days to an environmental concentration of toxicant (0. 05 mg/1). Gill tissues of survivors at 12, 36 and 96 hours (acute) and 30 days (chronic) plus controls were fixed for three hours in cold 4% phosphate-buffered glutaraldehyde, postfixed in 1% osmium tetroxide and subsequently embedded in Epon 812.

scholarly journals Stable genetic structure and connectivity in pollution-adapted and nearby pollution-sensitive populations of Fundulus heteroclitus

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 171532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joaquin C. B. Nunez ◽  
Leann M. Biancani ◽  
Patrick A. Flight ◽  
Diane E. Nacci ◽  
David M. Rand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Structure ◽  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Fundulus Heteroclitus ◽  
Isolation By Distance ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Purifying Selection ◽  
Spatial Distance ◽  
Estuarine Fish ◽  
Synonymous Mutations ◽  
Microsatellite Analyses

Populations of the non-migratory estuarine fish Fundulus heteroclitus inhabiting the heavily polluted New Bedford Harbour (NBH) estuary have shown inherited tolerance to local pollutants introduced to their habitats in the past 100 years. Here we examine two questions: (i) Is there pollution-driven selection on the mitochondrial genome across a fine geographical scale? and (ii) What is the pattern of migration among sites spanning a strong pollution gradient? Whole mitochondrial genomes were analysed for 133 F. heteroclitus from seven nearby collection sites: four sites along the NBH pollution cline (approx. 5 km distance), which had pollution-adapted fish, as well as one site adjacent to the pollution cline and two relatively unpolluted sites about 30 km away, which had pollution-sensitive fish. Additionally, we used microsatellite analyses to quantify genetic variation over three F. heteroclitus generations in both pollution-adapted and sensitive individuals collected from two sites at two different time points (1999/2000 and 2007/2008). Our results show no evidence for a selective sweep of mtDNA in the polluted sites. Moreover, mtDNA analyses revealed that both pollution-adapted and sensitive populations harbour similar levels of genetic diversity. We observed a high level of non-synonymous mutations in the most polluted site. This is probably associated with a reduction in N e and concomitant weakening of purifying selection, a demographic expansion following a pollution-related bottleneck or increased mutation rates. Our demographic analyses suggest that isolation by distance influences the distribution of mtDNA genetic variation between the pollution cline and the clean populations at broad spatial scales. At finer scales, population structure is patchy, and neither spatial distance, pollution concentration or pollution tolerance is a good predictor of mtDNA variation. Lastly, microsatellite analyses revealed stable population structure over the last decade.

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