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Provera I, Martinez M, Zenone A, Giacalone VM, D'Anna G, Badalamenti F, Marín-Guirao L, Procaccini G. Exploring priming strategies to improve stress resilience of Posidonia oceanica seedlings. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2024; 200:116057. [PMID: 38301434 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2023] [Revised: 01/12/2024] [Accepted: 01/14/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
Seagrasses' ability to store information after exposure to stress (i.e. stress memory) and to better respond to further stress (i.e. priming) have recently been observed, although the temporal persistence of the memory and the mechanisms for priming induction remain to be defined. Here, we explored three priming strategies in Posidonia oceanica seedlings, each inducing a different level of stress, for temperature and salinity. We investigated changes in morphometry, growth rate and biomass between primed and non-primed seedlings. The results showed similar behaviour of seedlings when exposed to an acute stress event, regardless of whether they had been primed or not and of the priming strategy received. This opens the debate on the level of stress necessary for inducing a priming status and the persistence of the stress memory in P. oceanica seedlings. Although no priming-induced stress resistance was observed, seedlings showed unexpectedly high resilience to extreme levels of both abiotic stressors.
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Affiliation(s)
- I Provera
- Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, 80121 Naples, Italy.
| | - M Martinez
- Institute of Anthropic Impacts and Sustainability in Marine Environment, National Research Council (IAS-CNR), Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo n. 4521 (ex complesso Roosevelt), Località Addaura, 90149 Palermo, Italy
| | - A Zenone
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo 4521, 90149 Palermo, Italy; National Biodiversity Future Centre (NBFC), Palermo, Italy
| | - V M Giacalone
- Institute of Anthropic Impacts and Sustainability in Marine Environment, National Research Council (IAS-CNR), Via del Mare 3, 91021 Torretta Granitola, Italy; National Biodiversity Future Centre (NBFC), Palermo, Italy
| | - G D'Anna
- Institute of Anthropic Impacts and Sustainability in Marine Environment, National Research Council (IAS-CNR), via Giovanni da Verrazzano 17, 91014 Castellammare del Golfo, Italy; National Biodiversity Future Centre (NBFC), Palermo, Italy
| | - F Badalamenti
- Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, 80121 Naples, Italy; Institute of Anthropic Impacts and Sustainability in Marine Environment, National Research Council (IAS-CNR), Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo n. 4521 (ex complesso Roosevelt), Località Addaura, 90149 Palermo, Italy; National Biodiversity Future Centre (NBFC), Palermo, Italy
| | - L Marín-Guirao
- Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, 80121 Naples, Italy; Centro Oceanográfico de Murcia (IEO-CSIC), Varadero 1, 30740 San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain
| | - G Procaccini
- Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, 80121 Naples, Italy; National Biodiversity Future Centre (NBFC), Palermo, Italy
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Pazzaglia J, Badalamenti F, Bernardeau-Esteller J, Ruiz JM, Giacalone VM, Procaccini G, Marín-Guirao L. Thermo-priming increases heat-stress tolerance in seedlings of the Mediterranean seagrass P. oceanica. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2022; 174:113164. [PMID: 34864463 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2021] [Revised: 11/09/2021] [Accepted: 11/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Seawater warming and increased incidence of marine heatwaves (MHW) are threatening the integrity of coastal marine habitats including seagrasses, which are particularly vulnerable to climate changes. Novel stress tolerance-enhancing strategies, including thermo-priming, have been extensively applied in terrestrial plants for enhancing resilience capacity under the re-occurrence of a stress event. We applied, for the first time in seedlings of the Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica, a thermo-priming treatment through the exposure to a simulated warming event. We analyzed the photo-physiological and growth performance of primed and non-primed seedlings, and the gene expression responses of selected genes (i.e. stress-, photosynthesis- and epigenetic-related genes). Results revealed that during the re-occurring stress event, primed seedlings performed better than unprimed showing unaltered photo-physiology supported by high expression levels of genes related to stress response, photosynthesis, and epigenetic modifications. These findings offer new opportunities to improve conservation and restoration efforts in a future scenario of environmental changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Pazzaglia
- Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, 80121 Naples, Italy; Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy
| | - Fabio Badalamenti
- Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, 80121 Naples, Italy; CNR-IAS, Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo 4521, 90149 Palermo, Italy
| | - Jaime Bernardeau-Esteller
- Seagrass Ecology Group, Oceanographic Center of Murcia, Spanish Institute of Oceanography, Murcia, Spain
| | - Juan M Ruiz
- Seagrass Ecology Group, Oceanographic Center of Murcia, Spanish Institute of Oceanography, Murcia, Spain
| | | | - Gabriele Procaccini
- Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, 80121 Naples, Italy.
| | - Lazaro Marín-Guirao
- Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, 80121 Naples, Italy; Seagrass Ecology Group, Oceanographic Center of Murcia, Spanish Institute of Oceanography, Murcia, Spain
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Abstract
The last hundred years have seen the introduction of many sources of artificial noise in the sea environment which have shown to negatively affect marine organisms. Little attention has been devoted to how much this noise could affect sessile organisms. Here, we report morphological and ultrastructural changes in seagrass, after exposure to sounds in a controlled environment. These results are new to aquatic plants pathology. Low-frequency sounds produced alterations in Posidonia oceanica root and rhizome statocysts, which sense gravity and process sound vibration. Nutritional processes of the plant were affected as well: we observed a decrease in the number of rhizome starch grains, which have a vital role in energy storage, as well as a degradation in the specific fungal symbionts of P. oceanica roots. This sensitivity to artificial sounds revealed how sound can potentially affect the health status of P. oceanica. Moreover, these findings address the question of how much the increase of ocean noise pollution may contribute in the future to the depletion of seagrass populations and to biodiversity loss. Solé et al. report morphological and ultrastructural changes in seagrass, after exposure to human generated noise. These data suggest that noise pollution can potentially affect the health status of seagrass and thereby contribute to the depletion of seagrass populations.
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Guerrero-Meseguer L, Marín A, Sanz-Lázaro C. Heat wave intensity can vary the cumulative effects of multiple environmental stressors on Posidonia oceanica seedlings. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2020; 159:105001. [PMID: 32662435 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.105001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2019] [Revised: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/25/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Climate change is introducing new stressors into already stressed ecosystems. Among these, extreme events such as heat waves play a crucial role in determining the structure of ecosystems. We tested single and combined effects of overgrazing, burial and heat waves on the seedlings of the habitat-forming species Posidonia oceanica. At current heat wave temperatures, overgrazing in isolation had more deleterious effects than seed burial, and effects were synergistic and additive when both factors co-occurred. The combined effect of overgrazing and seed burial with current heat waves could hamper P. oceanica seedling development, with similar or even higher levels than the sole effect of heat waves in the near future (29 °C). The effects of overgrazing and seed burial are expected to be overridden if heat waves temperatures exceed 29 °C. These results suggest that co-occurring environmental stressors, in combination with current heat waves, could compromise the sexual recruitment of this seagrass.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Guerrero-Meseguer
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia. Campus de Espinardo, 30100, Murcia, Spain; Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Campo Alegre s/n, 4150-181, Porto, Portugal.
| | - Arnaldo Marín
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia. Campus de Espinardo, 30100, Murcia, Spain
| | - Carlos Sanz-Lázaro
- Departamento de Ecología, Universidad de Alicante, P.O. Box 99, E-03080, Alicante, Spain; Multidisciplinary Institute for Environmental Studies (MIES), Universidad de Alicante, P.O. Box 99, E-03080, Alicante, Spain.
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Understanding the sexual recruitment of one of the oldest and largest organisms on Earth, the seagrass Posidonia oceanica. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0207345. [PMID: 30444902 PMCID: PMC6239318 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0207345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2018] [Accepted: 10/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The seagrass Posidonia oceanica is considered one of the oldest and largest living organisms on Earth. Notwithstanding, given the difficulty of monitoring its fruits and seeds in the field, the development of P. oceanica during its sexual recruitment is not completely understood. We studied the stages of development of P. oceanica seeds from their dispersion in the fruit interior to their settlement in sediment through histological, ultrastructural and mesocosm experiments. P. oceanica sexual recruitment can be divided into three main stages that focus on maximising photosynthesis and anchoring the seedlings to the sediment. In the first stage (fruit dispersion), seeds perform photosynthesis while being transported inside the fruit along the sea surface. In the second stage (seed adhesion), seeds develop adhesive microscopic hairs that cover the primary and secondary roots and favour seed adhesion to the substrate. In the last stage (seedling anchorage), roots attach the seedlings to the substrate by orienting them towards the direction of light to maximise photosynthesis. The adaptations observed in P. oceanica are similar to those in other seagrasses with non-dormant seeds and fruits with membranous pericarps, such as Thalassia sp. and Enhalus sp. These common strategies suggest a convergent evolution in such seagrasses in terms of sexual recruitment. Understanding the sexual recruitment of habitat-forming species such as seagrasses is necessary to adequately manage the ecosystems that they inhabit.
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Guerrero-Meseguer L, Marín A, Sanz-Lázaro C. Future heat waves due to climate change threaten the survival of Posidonia oceanica seedlings. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2017; 230:40-45. [PMID: 28644983 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.06.039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2017] [Revised: 06/09/2017] [Accepted: 06/13/2017] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Extreme weather events are major drivers of ecological change, and their occurrence is likely to increase due to climate change. The transient increases in atmospheric temperatures are leading to a greater occurrence of heat waves, extreme events that can produce a substantial warming of water, especially in enclosed basins such as the Mediterranean Sea. Here, we tested the effects of current and predicted heat waves on the early stages of development of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica. Temperatures above 27 °C limited the growth of the plant by inhibiting its photosynthetic system. It suffered a reduction in leaf growth and faster leaf senescence, and in some cases mortality. This study demonstrates that the greater frequency of heat waves, along with anticipated temperature rises in coming decades, are expected to negatively affect the germination of P. oceanica seedlings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Guerrero-Meseguer
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
| | - Arnaldo Marín
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain
| | - Carlos Sanz-Lázaro
- Departamento de Ciencias del Mar y Biología Aplicada, Pabellón 13, Universidad de Alicante, P.O. Box 99, E-03080 Alicante, Spain
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Balestri E, Vallerini F, Lardicci C. Recruitment and Patch Establishment by Seed in the Seagrass Posidonia oceanica: Importance and Conservation Implications. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2017; 8:1067. [PMID: 28670323 PMCID: PMC5472673 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2017.01067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2017] [Accepted: 06/02/2017] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Seagrasses are declining globally, and deeper understanding is needed on the recruitment potential and distribution of new populations for many threatened species to support conservation planning in the face of climate change. Recruitment of Posidonia oceanica, a threatened seagrass endemic to the Mediterranean, has long been considered rare due to infrequent flowering, but mounting evidence demonstrates that the species is responding to a changing climate through greater reproductive effort. Due to the fragmentary information on recruit occurrence and distribution, little is known about reproductive success in the species and its contribution to persistence. We assembled P. oceanica recruitment data from published and unpublished sources, including our own, to examine the frequency and extent of recruitment events (establishment of seedlings in a site), seedling growth potential and habitat characteristics at recruitment sites. Results show that at least one recruitment event has occurred about every 3 years, and 18 localities were colonized at least one time since the first seedling record in 1986. Notably, consistently high seedling inputs were observed in four localities of the Western Mediterranean. Seedlings established mainly on unoccupied substrate areas along the coasts of islands, in sheltered sites and at shallower depths (<3 m) than the upper limit of adjacent P. oceanica meadows. Seedling establishment occurred more frequently on rocky than on sandy substrate, and rarely on dead "matte" or meadows of the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa. The chance of colonization success on rock was two times higher than on sand. Our 11 years of observations have allowed for the first time the documentation of the formation and development of patches by P. oceanica seed. These findings contradict the historical assumption that sexual recruitment is rare and usually unsuccessful for P. oceanica, and highlight the potential importance of recruitment for the long-term persistence and adaptation of the species to sea level rise predicted in the next century in the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, management actions have mainly focused on established meadows, ignoring the presence of recruits in outside areas. Therefore, it will be useful to identify and consider regeneration sites in designing future management strategies to improve seagrass conservation effectiveness.
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Guerrero-Meseguer L, Sanz-Lázaro C, Suk-ueng K, Marín A. Influence of substrate and burial on the development of Posidonia oceanica
: implications for restoration. Restor Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/rec.12438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Laura Guerrero-Meseguer
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología, Facultad de Biología; Universidad de Murcia, Campus de Espinardo; 30100 Murcia Spain
| | - Carlos Sanz-Lázaro
- Departamento de Ciencias del Mar y Biología Aplicada; Pabellón 13, Universidad de Alicante; PO Box 99 E-03080 Alicante Spain
| | - Krittawit Suk-ueng
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología, Facultad de Biología; Universidad de Murcia, Campus de Espinardo; 30100 Murcia Spain
| | - Arnaldo Marín
- Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología, Facultad de Biología; Universidad de Murcia, Campus de Espinardo; 30100 Murcia Spain
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