Meeting Abstract

P1.160  Friday, Jan. 4  Changes in global protein abundance patterns in the intertidal owl limpet Lottia gigantea in response to acute heat stress ELDER, H.*; TODGHAM, A.; TOMANEK, L.; California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; California State University, San Francisco; California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo hollandelder@gmail.com

The owl limpet Lottia gigantea inhabits one of the most variable thermal marine environments known, the rocky intertidal zone, and occurs from northern California to southern Baja California. Its limited mobility in the intertidal zone and its close-to-completion genome sequence provide ideal parameters for the study of its thermal biology using a proteomics approach. To characterize the response of limpets to increased temperature, specimens were randomly divided into three groups that would experience emersion at 13°C, 25°C, and 30°C for two hours. After treatment, the limpets were quickly returned to ambient ocean conditions at approximately 13°C. Limpets from each treatment group were sampled at 0, 6, and 18 h of recovery at 13°C for proteomic analysis. Foot tissue was immediately frozen and subsequently prepared for analysis with 2D gel electrophoresis. Using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization tandem time-of-flight (MALDI TOF/TOF) mass spectrometry and the existing Lottia genomic database we were able to identify a number of proteins changing with acute heat stress under conditions of emersion. In a preliminary test (p<0.02) between the 6 hour recovery 13°C control and the 30°C heat shock groups, it was found that there were 21 significant proteins changing between the two groups. The changing proteins constituted 12% of protein abundance in these groups. Identification of these proteins and those in the other groups will give an understanding of changes in protein abundance in response to heat stress in this emerging model organism.