Meeting Abstract
The rate and severity of the climate change vary across the globe, and a major challenge is therefore to understand how climate affects regional ecosystem patterns. To achieve this aim it is crucial identify and link ecological processes and physiological mechanisms on more susceptible ecosystems, such as tropical biodiversity hotspots. Our study aims to determine the role of bioenergetic mechanisms on survival and fitness of amphibians from the semi-arid Caatinga region of Brazil, which is considered one of the hot-spots of climate change in South America. In order to determine the effects of seasonality and physiological stress on key metabolic regulatory pathways and immunocompetence of amphibians, we assessed the role of the key metabolic regulators, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), Protein Kinase B (AKT), Eukaryotic Initiation Factor (eIF), and Heat Shock Proteins (HSP 60,70,90) in seasonal metabolic adjustments, and determined the links between the bioenergetic status and immunocompetence of the amphibians in response to seasonally elevated temperatures and drought. Samples were collected from three anuran species Pleurodema diplolister (a summer estivating species), and Rhinella granulosa and R. jimi (species that are active the year round) during the dry season and the rainfalls and used to test the links between metabolic status and immunocompetence in amphibians from this extreme environment.
