January 31, 2020

Mussels' ability to buffer climate-induced heat stress could benefit aquaculture - study 

Blue mussels, also known as common mussels, have been found to possess the ability to change patterns of gene expression to make more proteins that help them cope with heat stress.

Sarah Kingston, who made the study in collaboration with Dave Carlon and Pieter Martino when she was a visiting professor at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, USA, said this ability makes wild blue mussels (genus Mytilus) somewhat resilient to higher ocean temperature, acidification and less food.

Kingston stressed the importance of her discoveries in light of the changes in the shellfish-rich Gulf of Maine, including rising temperatures, acidification and less food, which are projected to worsen in the next century.

"The Gulf of Maine is changing rapidly, and we want to know how those changes may impact marine creatures that are important to us (as a food source and a key member of ecosystems) like blue mussels," said Kingston, who is now a visiting professor in the School of Marine Sciences at the University of Maine (UM).

The Gulf of Maine is a logical natural laboratory in which to test questions about evolution and adaptation, added Kingston, a molecular ecologist who is teaching a core "Semester by the Sea" course about invertebrates at the UM's Darling Marine Centre.

Kingston said the results have important implications for aquaculture, adding future studies will illuminate the set of genes underlying variance in calcification rate (for shells).

The hardier genetic variants could be used for selective breeding, she said