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Developmental physiology of Antarctic asteroids with different life-history modes

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Abstract

Rates of respiration and protein synthesis were measured during embryonic and larval development of Antarctic asteroids with different life-history modes (non-feeding and feeding larvae: Acodontaster hodgsoni, Porania antarctica, Odontaster meridionalis). Patterns of respiration for these species all show an increase during embryogenesis, with subsequent maintenance of routine respiration (“starvation resistance”), even in the absence of food for ~4 months (O. meridionalis). Fractional rates of protein synthesis (i.e., rate per unit mass of whole-body protein content) in the Antarctic larvae are essentially identical to those of temperate species. Larvae of O. meridionalis had an average fractional synthesis rate of 0.52% ± 0.05 h−1 at −1.0°C, which is comparable to the temperate asteroid Asterina miniata at 0.53% ± 0.14 h−1 at 15°C. For embryos of the asteroids A. hodgsoni and P. antarctica, fractional rates of protein synthesis (~0.2% h−1) also are comparable to those reported for embryos of temperate echinoderm species. While rates of synthesis are high, rates of protein deposition are relatively low (percent of protein synthesized that is retained for growth). During a ~4 month growth period for larvae of O. meridionalis, the average protein depositional efficiency was 5.2%. This contrasts with higher rates of depositional efficiency reported for similar developmental stages of temperate echinoderm species. The biological significance of maintaining high rates of macromolecular synthesis for species with low rates of cell division and low protein depositional efficiencies is intriguing in the context of understanding the mechanistic bases of extended life spans and dispersal potential in response to changing Antarctic environments.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Drs. Doug Pace, Allison Green, and Michael Moore for assistance with rearing larvae over many months while working at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Dr. Robert Maxson provided very insightful advice and suggestions. Special thanks to Rob Robbins for his assistance with animal collections in the field, and to the Crary Laboratory staff for help with this research. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 01-30398.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-0371, USA

    David W. Ginsburg & Donal T. Manahan

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  1. David W. Ginsburg
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  2. Donal T. Manahan
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Correspondence to Donal T. Manahan.

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Communicated by H. O. Pörtner.

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Ginsburg, D.W., Manahan, D.T. Developmental physiology of Antarctic asteroids with different life-history modes. Mar Biol 156, 2391–2402 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-009-1268-0

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