Meeting Abstract
Temperature is a principal environmental regulator of biochemical and physiological rates. The study of biological temperature sensitivity, and especially that of metabolic rate, has been a central theme in comparative animal physiology. Extensive comparisons have been made among species, particularly between those inhabiting environments with contrasting temperature regimes. Less is known, however, about the relative temperature sensitivity of fundamental physiological processes within a species. Of particular interest is whether the Q10 value (fold-change in rate for a 10°C increase) for metabolic ATP-production is the same as those for ATP-consuming physiological and biochemical processes. If changes in rates of ATP-consuming processes with temperature are uncoupled from those that regulate ATP-production, then changes will occur in the allocation of ATP under temperature fluctuation. We measured acute Q10 values for several physiological and biochemical rates over a normal temperature range experienced by larvae of the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas). Concurrent in vivo measurements were conducted for rates of oxygen consumption, protein synthesis, and ion transport by Na+,K+-ATPase. Experiments conducted with multiple cohorts of larvae showed that Q10 values for the rate of oxygen consumption differed substantially from those for protein synthesis and ion transport. These findings suggest that daily temperature fluctuations experienced by larvae in their natural habitat may exert regulatory control over energy allocation dynamics.
