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Effects of elevated ammonia concentrations on survival, metabolic rates, and glutamine synthetase activity in the Antarctic pteropod mollusk Clione limacina antarctica

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Abstract

Information on the effects of elevated ammonia on invertebrates in general, and polar Mollusks in particular, is scant. Questions of ammonia sensitivity are interesting for several reasons, particularly since predicted global change scenarios include increasing anthropogenic nitrogen and toxic ammonia. Furthermore, polar zooplankton species are often lipid-rich, and authors have speculated that there is a linkage between elevated levels of lipids/trimethylamine oxide and enhanced ammonia tolerance. In the present study, we sought to examine ammonia tolerance and effects of elevated exogenous ammonia on several key aspects of the physiology and biochemistry of the pteropod mollusk, Clione limacina antarctica. We determined that the 96-h LC50 value for this species is 7.465 mM total ammonia (Upper 95% CL = 8.498 mM and Lower 95% CL = 6.557 mM) or 0.51 mg/L as unionized ammonia (NH3) (at a pH of 7.756). While comparative data for mollusks are limited, this value is at the lower end of reported values for other species. When the effects of lower ammonia concentrations (0.07 mM total ammonia) on oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion rates were examined, no effects were noted. However, total ammonia levels as low as 0.1 mM (or 0.007 mg/l NH3) elevated the activity of the ammonia detoxification enzyme glutamine synthetase by approximately 1.5-fold. The values for LC50 and observable effects on biochemistry for this one species are very close to permissible marine ammonia concentrations, indicating a need to more broadly determine the sensitivity of zooplankton to potential elevated ammonia levels in polar regions.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a US National Science Foundation grant (OPP# 0538479) to BAS and VJ Fabry, and by a Discovery Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada to PJW, who is also supported by the Canada Research Chair Program. The authors wish to thank Drs. Martin Grosell and Andrew Esbaugh of the University of Miami Rosenstiel School for advice on calculation of LC50 values.

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  1. Amy Maas

    Present address: Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, 02881, USA

    Amy Maas & Brad A. Seibel

  2. Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, 30 Marie Curie, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada

    Patrick J. Walsh

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  1. Amy Maas
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  2. Brad A. Seibel
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  3. Patrick J. Walsh
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Correspondence to Patrick J. Walsh.

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Maas, A., Seibel, B.A. & Walsh, P.J. Effects of elevated ammonia concentrations on survival, metabolic rates, and glutamine synthetase activity in the Antarctic pteropod mollusk Clione limacina antarctica . Polar Biol 35, 1123–1128 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1158-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1158-7

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