Oceanic acidification, a process resulting from the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere by activities of anthropic nature, has been causing in recent decades a change in the chemical balance of the bicarbonate / carbonate system and consequently a decrease in the pH of the oceans. Estimates indicate that this decrease can be 0.7 units per year of 2300, which can affect the growth, reproduction and even survival of the species. In this sense, studies are needed to evaluate the impact of oceanic acidification on physiological and molecular levels in different marine species. The Callinectes danae crab is an important ecological and economic resource of the Region of the Baixada Santista and inhabitant of different ranges of salinity. The present study evaluated the effects of ocean acidification on C. danae crab on a set of physiological parameters (oxygen consumption, ammonia excretion, O: N ratio, hepatosomatic index and osmo-and ionoregulatory capacity of hemolymph), and gene expression of Na + / K + – ATPase, an important enzyme in the process of osmoregulation and acid base balance. The animals were kept at different salinities (20, 25, 30, 35 and 40) and at pHs 8.0 (control) and 7.3 (acidified) for a period of three and thirty days. It was observed an increase in the oxygen consumption in salinities 25 (3 days), 20 and 40 (30 days) probably due to a greater energy requirement for the maintenance of systems related to acid-base regulation. Metabolic depression was also observed at the salinity of 30 (30 days). Ammonia excretion decreased in salinities 30 (3 days), 25, 30 and 35 (30 days) possibly due to competition between Na + / H + and Na + / NH + 4 transporters. The hepatosomatic index had an increase in salinities of 30 (3 days) and 40 (30 days) due to a possible accumulation of reserves in stressful situations. The energy substrate and the osmoregulatory pattern remained unchanged in all treatments. However, the Cl- and Na + concentrations were reduced at the salinity of 25 and 35 (30 days), probably due to some changes in their transporters. Molecularly, a regulation of Na + / K + ATPase expression was observed, with a decrease in salinities of 35 and 40 (3 days), and a subsequent increase in the period of 30 days. The work was the first to evaluate the physiological and molecular parameters of C.danae in different salinities. Animals that remained longer on exposure to high pCO2 are more negatively affected than animals that were exposed in 3 days. The observed changes may indicate that although C. danae is an eurialan animal and inhabits different environments, ocean acidification can alter its physiological and molecular patterns, taking organisms out of their homeostasis, having consequences on the growth, development and distribution of the species.
Ramaglia da Mota A. C., 2018. Analysis of Na +/ K+ -ATPase gene expression and physiological parameters in the crab Callinectes danae submitted to future scenarios of ocean acidification in the laboratory. MSc thesis, Universidade Estaduale Paulista, 51 p. Thesis.
