Responses of digestive metabolism to marine heatwaves in pearl oysters

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin 2023-01, Vol.186, p.114395, Article 114395
• Main Authors: Liu, Xiaolong, Peng, Yalan, Xu, Yang, He, Guixiang, Liang, Jian, Masanja, Fortunatus, Yang, Ke, Xu, Xin, Deng, Yuewen, Zhao, Liqiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Aquatic Organisms; Bivalves; Climate change; Digestive metabolism; Ecosystem; Extreme weather events; Oceans and Seas; Pinctada - metabolism; Pinctada maxima; Seawater
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114395

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) have increased in intensity and frequency in global oceans, causing deleterious effects on many marine organisms and ecosystems they support. Bivalves are among the most vulnerable taxonomic groups to intensifying MHWs, yet little is known about the underlying mechanisms. Here, we investigated the impact of MHWs on the digestive metabolism of pearl oysters (Pinctada maxima). Two moderate and severe scenarios of MHWs were performed by increasing seawater temperature respectively from 24 °C to 28 °C and 32 °C for 3 days. When subjected to MHWs and with increasing intensity, pearl oysters significantly enhanced their digestive enzymatic activities, such as lipase and amylase. LC-MS-based metabolomics revealed negative responses in the lipid metabolism (e.g., steroid biosynthesis, glycerophospholipid metabolism, and sphingolipid metabolism), the amino acid metabolism (e.g., glutamate, histidine, arginine, and proline), and the B-vitamins metabolism. These findings indicate that the digestive metabolism of marine bivalves can likely succumb to intensifying MHWs events. •Enzymatic activities of lipase and amylase increased with intensifying MHWs.•Metabolomics identified changes in metabolite profiles under MHWs conditions.•MHWs caused changes in lipid, amino acid, and B-vitamins metabolisms.