Effects of elevated seawater pCO2 on gene expression patterns in the gills of the green crab, Carcinus maenas

Background
The green crab Carcinus maenas is known for its high acclimation potential to varying environmental abiotic conditions. A high ability for ion and acid-base regulation is mainly based on an efficient regulation apparatus located in gill epithelia. However, at present it is neither known which ion transport proteins play a key role in the acid-base compensation response nor how gill epithelia respond to elevated seawater pCO2 as predicted for the future. In order to promote our understanding of the responses of green crab acid-base regulatory epithelia to high pCO2, Baltic Sea green crabs were exposed to a pCO2 of 400 Pa. Gills were screened for differentially expressed gene transcripts using a 4,462-feature microarray and quantitative real-time PCR.

Ocean acidification – Sarah Cooley, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (video)

Ocean acidification: an environmental externality is coming home to roost

Opportunity to develop US-UK collaborations between ocean acidification researchers

The Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Project’s ocean acidification subcommittee would like to call your attention to an opportunity for building collaborations between scientists in the United States and the United Kingdom, as part of the recent U.S. National Science Foundation and U.K. Ocean Acidification research program’s calls for proposals (http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503477; and www.oceanacidification.org/pdf/UKOA%20AVA%20opportunity%20(1%20Sep%202011).pdf respectively).

In early 2011, the U.K. government’s Science & Innovation Network supported 10 short working visits between U.S. and U.K. researchers collaborating on ocean acidification research. These have led to several grant proposals and an institution-wide memorandum of understanding regarding collaboration in preparation, and multiple papers in planning, preparation, and press. For details, see here.

Inter-laboratory comparison for sea water CO2 measurements planned for 2012

The goal of this inter-laboratory comparison is to assess the present quality of sea water CO2 measurements for total alkalinity, total dissolved inorganic carbon, and pH. It is thus relevant to the marine science community as well as to laboratories involved in ocean acidification activities.

The test samples will be prepared in Andrew Dickson’s laboratory at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and will comprise four 500 mL bottles of different sea waters (two samples, each in duplicate), with one sample having a low p(CO2) at 20 °C (ca. 400 µatm) and the other a high p(CO2) (ca. 1200 µatm). The samples will also be analyzed at Scripps to provide reference values for the comparison.

Ocean acidification – Curtis Deutsch, University of California, Los Angeles (video)