Meeting Abstract

P2.81  Friday, Jan. 4  Functional genetic analysis of the transcriptome of a moderately euryhaline estuarine crab during osmotic stress PHILLIPS, M. R.; JOHNSON, E. A.; TERWILLIGER, N. B.*; University of Oregon, Eugene and Charleston; University of Oregon, Eugene; University of Oregon, Eugene and Charleston nterwill@uoregon.edu

In marine ecosystems, salinity is a major force that influences species distribution, acclimation capacity and ecological community structure. Understanding how marine animals are able to tolerate, acclimate and adapt to both short-term and long-term changes in salinity is important in the maintenance and sustainability of the estuarine ecosystem. The complex life cycle of the Dungeness crab, Cancer magister, entails multiple morphological transformations and relocations in habitat, using different portions of the nearshore and estuarine waters during different life stages. We used cDNA microarray analysis to gain insight into the molecular basis of short-term salinity adaptation in C. magister megalopas, juveniles, and adults. A total of 5028 elements (approximately 2.4% of the total microarray project) had at least a 2-fold difference in transcript expression after exposure to either hyper- or hyposaline conditions. We identified a range of novel genes involved in osmotic stress responses, including several cuticular proteins, and characterized tissue-level and developmental stage-specific expression of several of these genes. These genes had not been suggested previously to participate in environmental stress responses and will be excellent candidates for further characterization in the osmotic stress responses of C. magister. The study illustrates that this high-throughput approach is a powerful tool for identifying sets of genes that are associated with environmental stress responses in a non-model organism.