Transcriptional, translational and systemic alterations during the time course of osmoregulatory acclimation in two palaemonid shrimps from distinct osmotic niches

Abstract

Palaemonid shrimps exhibit numerous adaptive strategies, both in their life cycles and in biochemical, physiological, morphological and behavioral characteristics that reflect the wide variety of habitats in which they occur, including species that are of particular interest when analyzing adaptive osmoregulatory strategies. The present investigation evaluates the short- (hours) and long-term (days) time courses of responses of two palaemonid shrimps from separate yet overlapping osmotic niches, Palaemon northropi (marine) and Macrobrachium acanthurus (diadromous, fresh water), to differential salinity challenges at distinct levels of structural organization: (i) transcriptional, analyzing quantitative expression of gill mRNAs that encode for subunits of the Na+/K+-ATPase and V(H+)-ATPase ion transporters; (ii) translational, examining the kinetic behavior of gill Na+/K+-ATPase specific activity; and (iii) systemic, accompanying consequent adjustment of hemolymph osmolality. Palaemon northropi is an excellent hyper-hypo-osmoregulator in dilute and concentrated seawater, respectively. Macrobrachium acanthurus is a strong hyper-regulator in fresh water and hypo-regulates hemolymph osmolality and particularly [Cl−] in brackish water. Hemolymph hyper-regulation in fresh water (Macrobrachium acanthurus) and dilute seawater (Palaemon northropi) is underlain by augmented expression of both the gill Na+/K+-ATPase and V(H+)-ATPase. In contrast, in neither species is hypo-regulation sustained by changes in Na+/K+-ATPase mRNA expression levels, but rather by regulating enzyme specific activity. The integrated time course of Na+/K+- and V(H+)-ATPase expression and Na+/K+-ATPase activity in the gills of these palaemonid shrimps during acclimation to different salinities reveals versatility in their levels of regulation, and in the roles of these ion transporting pumps in sustaining processes of hyper- and hypo-osmotic and chloride regulation.