Transgenerational phenotypic plasticity: Cardiorespiratory physiology of the parthenogenetic marbled crayfish as a model system
Final Report Abstract
The aim of this project was the identification of potential phenotypic plasticity of the cardiorespiratory physiology of the marbled crayfish, Procambarus virginalis LYKO, 2017. The marbled crayfish is strictly parthenogenetic and produces genetically identical offspring. Thus, this species is rendered ideal for the study of phenotypic plasticity since none of the observed variation can be due to differences in gene sequence. To investigate the developmental effect of environmental stressors on the crayfish physiology, embryos were reared at different temperatures and under different regimes of oxygen availability. The first two free-roaming juvenile instars (stage 3 and 4 after hatching) served as objects of study. Heart rate was assessed using video microscopy and mass-specific oxygen consumption was measured with closed fluorescence micro-respirometry. There were differential effects of the investigated environmental factors on physiology and biometric measurements in the two studied instars. Aside from environmentally induced plasticity, another kind of phenotypic variation, stochastic developmental variation, was confirmed for the investigated physiological and morphological traits. While the original plan comprised the investigation of transgenerational plasticity, problems on the technical side of animal husbandry required an adaptation of the project. Therefore, a detailed investigation of the embryonic and early juvenile development of heart function was conducted instead. Despite the necessary adaptation of the project, valuable results have been obtained which inform about phenotypic plasticity and stochastic developmental variation not just in the studied species. The findings on the marbled crayfish further the establishment of this peculiar species as model organism.
Publications
- Form and function of the vertebrate and invertebrate blood-brain barriers. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(22), 12111
Dunton, A. D., Göpel, T., Ho, D. H., & Burggren, W.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms222212111) - High degree of non-genetic phenotypic variation in the vascular system of crayfish: a discussion of possible causes and implications. Zoomorphology, 140(3), 317-329
Scholz, S., Göpel, T., Richter, S., & Wirkner, C. S.
(See online at https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00435-021-00536-2) - Insufficient reporting of experimental variables as a cause for nonreproducibility in animal physiology? A case study. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 323(3), R363-R374
Göpel, T., & Burggren, W. W.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00026.2022)
