Meeting Abstract
The coastal ichthyofauna of Antarctica has endured sub-zero water temperatures for millions of years. During the course of these animals’ evolution, they have acquired a suite of adaptations to cope with the extreme cold and ice which characterize their environment. Polar organisms such as these are remarkably stenothermal and are therefore cause for concern in the context of climate change. The conserved cellular stress response is a crucial mechanism for coping with environmental insults. It typically involves changes in metabolism, molecular chaperoning, apoptosis and cell cycle modulation. The last two remain critically understudied, especially in Antarctic fishes. It is now widely accepted that such animals lack an inducible heat shock response–the ability to upregulate the production of key molecular chaperones–but the effect this may have on cell fate remains unclear. Here we present evidence that even sub-lethal heat stress can induce programmed cell death in the emerald rockcod Trematomus bernacchii. Temperatures as low as 2 °C may prove dangerously hot to this and closely related species.
