Increased intestinal carbonate precipitate abundance in the sea bream (Sparus aurata L.) in response to ocean acidification

PLoS One. 2019 Jun 21;14(6):e0218473. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0218473. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Marine fish contribute to the carbon cycle by producing mineralized intestinal precipitates generated as by-products of their osmoregulation. Here we aimed at characterizing the control of epithelial bicarbonate secretion and intestinal precipitate presence in the gilthead sea bream in response to predicted near future increases of environmental CO2. Our results demonstrate that hypercapnia (950 and 1800 μatm CO2) elicits higher intestine epithelial HCO3- secretion ex vivo and a subsequent parallel increase of intestinal precipitate presence in vivo when compared to present values (440 μatm CO2). Intestinal gene expression analysis in response to environmental hypercapnia revealed the up-regulation of transporters involved in the intestinal bicarbonate secretion cascade such as the basolateral sodium bicarbonate co-transporter slc4a4, and the apical anion transporters slc26a3 and slc26a6 of sea bream. In addition, other genes involved in intestinal ion uptake linked to water absorption such as the apical nkcc2 and aquaporin 1b expression, indicating that hypercapnia influences different levels of intestinal physiology. Taken together the current results are consistent with an intestinal physiological response leading to higher bicarbonate secretion in the intestine of the sea bream paralleled by increased luminal carbonate precipitate abundance and the main related transporters in response to ocean acidification.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bicarbonates / analysis
  • Bicarbonates / metabolism*
  • Carbon Cycle
  • Climate Change*
  • Fish Proteins / metabolism
  • Intestinal Mucosa / metabolism*
  • Sea Bream / metabolism*
  • Seawater / chemistry*
  • Sodium-Bicarbonate Symporters / metabolism

Substances

  • Bicarbonates
  • Fish Proteins
  • Sodium-Bicarbonate Symporters

Grants and funding

This work was partially supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and European Social Funds through the Portuguese National Science Foundation (FCT) by studentship SFRH/BD/113363/2015 to SFG and by Project PTDC/MAR-BIO/3034/2014 to JF. Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR) is supported by national funds from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through project UID/Multi/04326/2019.