USAP-DC

The research supported in this project will examine the effects of environmental change on a key Antarctic marine invertebrate, a pelagic mollusk, the pteropod, Limacina helicina antarctica. There are two main activities in this project: (1) to deploy oceanographic equipment ? in this case, autonomously recording pH sensors called SeaFETs and other devices that record temperature and salinity, and (2) to use these environmental data in the laboratory at McMurdo Station to study the response of the marine invertebrates to future changes in water quality that is expected in the next few decades. Notably, changes in oceanic pH (aka ocean acidification) and ocean warming are projected to be particularly threatening to calcifying marine organisms in cold-water, high latitude seas, making tolerance data on these organisms a critical research need in Antarctic marine ecosystems.

These Antarctic shelled-animals are especially vulnerable to dissolution stress from ocean acidification because they currently inhabit seawater that is barely at the saturation level to support biogenic calcification. Indeed, these polar animals are considered to be the 'first responders' to chemical changes in the surface oceans. Thus, this project will lead to information about the adaptive capacity of L. helcina antarctica. From an ecological perspective this is important because this animal is a critical part of the Antarctic food chain in coastal waters and changes in its abundance will impact other species. Finally, the research conducted in this project will serve as a training and educational opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdoctoral scholars.

Person	Role
Hofmann, Gretchen	Investigator

Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems

Award # 1246202

NSF-ANT12-46202_1

None in the Database

Repository	Title (link)	Format(s)	Status
BCO-DMO	mRNA sequencing - RNAseq	None	exist
BCO-DMO	pH temp sal measurement data	None	exist
USAP-DC	Nearshore pH, temperature, (salinity, depth) at mooring sites in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Overwinter 2011-2016	None	exist

1. Johnson, K. M., Wong, J. M., Hoshijima, U., Sugano, C. S., & Hofmann, G. E. (2019). Seasonal transcriptomes of the Antarctic pteropod, Limacina helicina antarctica. Marine Environmental Research, 143, 49–59. (doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.10.006)
2. Johnson, K. M., & Hofmann, G. E. (2017). Transcriptomic response of the Antarctic pteropod Limacina helicina antarctica to ocean acidification. BMC Genomics, 18(1). (doi:10.1186/s12864-017-4161-0)
3. Bogan, S. N., Johnson, K. M., & Hofmann, G. E. (2020). Changes in Genome-Wide Methylation and Gene Expression in Response to Future pCO2 Extremes in the Antarctic Pteropod Limacina helicina antarctica. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6. (doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00788)
4. Hoshijima, U., Wong, J. M., & Hofmann, G. E. (2017). Additive effects of pCO2 and temperature on respiration rates of the Antarctic pteropod Limacina helicina antarctica. Conservation Physiology, 5(1). (doi:10.1093/conphys/cox064)
5. Hofmann, G. E. (2017). Ecological Epigenetics in Marine Metazoans. Frontiers in Marine Science, 4. (doi:10.3389/fmars.2017.00004)
6. Johnson, K. M., & Hofmann, G. E. (2020). Combined stress of ocean acidification and warming influence survival and drives differential gene expression patterns in the Antarctic pteropod, Limacina helicina antarctica. Conservation Physiology, 8(1). (doi:10.1093/conphys/coaa013)
7. Johnson, K. M., & Hofmann, G. E. (2016). A transcriptome resource for the Antarctic pteropod Limacina helicina antarctica. Marine Genomics, 28, 25–28. (doi:10.1016/j.margen.2016.04.002)
8. Rivest, E. B., O’Brien, M., Kapsenberg, L., Gotschalk, C. C., Blanchette, C. A., Hoshijima, U., & Hofmann, G. E. (2016). Beyond the benchtop and the benthos: Dataset management planning and design for time series of ocean carbonate chemistry associated with Durafet®-based pH sensors. Ecological Informatics, 36, 209–220. (doi:10.1016/j.ecoinf.2016.08.005)