Global Change Ecology | Marine & Freshwater Ecology | Evolutionary Ecology
Genotypic and phenotypic variation in the calcification of marine invertebrates as a response to changing environmental conditions
J Loxton*, P Kuklinski, JM Mair, M Spencer Jones, PR Cowie, JS Porter
*Corresponding author: J Loxton
Centre for Marine Biodiversity & Biotechnology, Life Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK
F1000Posters 2011, 2: 45 (poster) [ENGLISH]
Poster [1.02 MB]
Presented at
Biochemical Society 2011 - Stress Responses - Molecules, Organisms and Environment meeting,
4 - 7 Jan 2011, STR1.83
The phylum Bryozoa comprises sessile, suspension feeding invertebrates which are crucial components of benthic marine ecosystems and are vital for the acid buffering capacity of our oceans. Bryozoan skeletons exhibit varying combinations of the calcium carbonate polymorphs; aragonite and calcite, within their skeletons and can incorporate different minerals within deposited calcite. The large mineralogical and geochemical skeletal spectrum exhibited by bryozoans makes them an ideal model organism for investigating both genotypic and phenotypic changes in calcification caused by climate change.
This study aims to investigate the relationship between environmental conditions and calcification processes in marine Bryozoa using a multidisciplinary approach of mineralogical examination and proteomic and gene expression analysis.
Understanding the vulnerability of calcium carbonate and the calcification processes to changing environmental conditions we will be in a far better position to gauge the potential future impacts of climate change on our marine communities.
No relevant conflicts of interest declared.
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