Open Access

ARTICLE

RNA-sequencing indicates high hemocyanin expression as a key strategy for cold adaptation in the Antarctic amphipod Eusirus cf. giganteus clade g3

by SAMUELE GRECO^1,#, ELISA D’AGOSTINO^2,#, CHIARA MANFRIN¹, ANASTASIA SERENA GAETANO¹, GAEL FURLANIS¹, FRANCESCA CAPANNI¹, GIANFRANCO SANTOVITO², PAOLO EDOMI¹, PIERO GIULIO GIULIANINI¹, MARCO GERDOL^1,*

1 Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, 34127, Italy
2 Department of Biology, University of Padova, Padova, 35131, Italy

* Corresponding Author: Marco Gerdol,
# These authors contributed equally to this work

BIOCELL 2021, 45(6), 1611-1619. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2021.016121

Received 08 February 2021; Accepted 11 March 2021; Issue published 01 September 2021

Abstract

We here report the de novo transcriptome assembly and functional annotation of Eusirus cf. giganteus clade g3, providing the first database of expressed sequences from this giant Antarctic amphipod. RNA-sequencing, carried out on the whole body of a single juvenile individual likely undergoing molting, revealed the dominant expression of hemocyanins. The mRNAs encoding these oxygen-binding proteins cumulatively accounted for about 40% of the total transcriptional effort, highlighting the key biological importance of high hemocyanin production in this Antarctic amphipod species. We speculate that this observation may mirror a strategy previously described in Antarctic cephalopods, which compensates for the decreased ability to release oxygen to peripheral tissues at sub-zero temperatures by massively increasing total blood hemocyanin content compared with temperate species. These preliminary results will undoubtedly require confirmation through proteomic and biochemical analyses aimed at characterizing the oxygen-binding properties of E. cf. giganteus clade g3 hemocyanins and at investigating whether other Antarctic arthropod species exploit similar adaptations to cope with the challenges posed by the extreme conditions of the polar environment.

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