HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (4) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dong, Y. Articles by Somero, G. N. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Dong, Y. Articles by Somero, G. N. Related Collections Ecology Evolution Molluscs Physiology

Heat-Shock Protein 70 (Hsp70) Expression in Four Limpets of the Genus Lottia: Interspecific Variation in Constitutive and Inducible Synthesis Correlates With in situ Exposure to Heat Stress

¹ Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, California 93950-3094
² The Key Laboratory of Mariculture, Ministry of Education, Fisheries College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, People's Republic of China 266003

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: somero{at}stanford.edu

Limpets of the genus Lottia occupy a broad vertical distribution on wave-exposed rocky shores, a range that encompasses gradients in the frequency and severity of thermal and desiccation stress brought on by aerial emersion. Using western blot analysis of levels of heat-shock protein 70 (Hsp70), we examined the heat-shock responses of four Lottia congeners: Lottia scabra and L. austrodigitalis, which occur in the high-intertidal zone, and L. pelta and L. scutum, which are restricted to the low- and mid-intertidal zones. Our results suggest distinct strategies of Hsp70 expression in limpets occupying different heights and orientations in the rocky intertidal zone. In freshly field-collected animals and in specimens acclimated at ambient temperature (14 °C) for 14 days, the two high-intertidal species had higher constitutive levels of Hsp70 than the low- and mid-intertidal species. During aerial exposure to high temperatures, the two low-shore species and L. austrodigitalis exhibited an onset of Hsp70 expression at 28 °C; no induction of Hsp70 occurred in L. scabra. Our findings suggest that high-intertidal congeners of Lottia employ a "preparative defense" strategy involving maintenance of high constitutive levels of Hsp70 in their cells as a mechanism for protection against periods of extreme and unpredictable heat stress.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Y. Dong and G. N. Somero Temperature adaptation of cytosolic malate dehydrogenases of limpets (genus Lottia): differences in stability and function due to minor changes in sequence correlate with biogeographic and vertical distributions J. Exp. Biol., January 15, 2009; 212(2): 169 - 177. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]