Abstract
Applying a proteomic approach for biomonitoring marine environments offers a useful tool for identifying organisms’ stress responses, with benthic filter-feeders being ideal candidates for this practice. Here, we investigated the proteomic profile of two solitary ascidians (Chordata, Ascidiacea): Microcosmus exasperatus, collected from five sites along the Mediterranean coast of Israel; and Polycarpa mytiligera collected from four sites along the Red Sea coast. 193 and 13 proteins in M. exasperatus and P. mytiligera, respectively, demonstrated a significant differential expression. Significant differences were found between the proteomes from the northern and the southern sites along both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea coasts. Some of the significant proteins had previously been shown to be affected by environmental stressors, and thus have the potential to be further developed as biomarkers. Obtaining a proteomic profile of field-collected ascidians provides a useful tool for the early-detection of a stress response in ascidians worldwide.
Highlights
Marine environments, and coastal regions in particular, are heavily exposed to anthropogenic stressors
431 proteins were identified from M. exasperatus sampled at the Mediterranean sites, of which 403 had met the 60% minimum valid value criteria and were used for analyses
The synthesis of ribosomal proteins, which comprised most of the proteome in our study, is affected by the cell’s environment, repressed in response to stress, and induced under favorable conditions [39]. In addition to their role in ribosome biogenesis and cellular development [40], many ribosomal proteins have critical roles in various cellular functions, such as DNA repair [41], apoptosis [42], and cellular differentiation [43]. Due to their relatively high abundance in the proteome of the sampled M. exasperatus, correlating changes in ribosomal proteins expression to various environmental factors/stressors could establish them as valuable biomarkers
Summary
Coastal regions in particular, are heavily exposed to anthropogenic stressors. Chemical analysis does not provide information concerning the effect on living biota [4,5]. Another tool used for quality assessment is biocenotic indexes, i.e. the presence or absence of indicator species within a community, and their tolerance to pollutants. This tool is limited to use for well-studied and defined communities for which there are sufficient data available. It is not able to provide an early warning of disturbance [4,6]
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