Absolutely, metabolic rates, growth, diversity and global distribution are thermodependent

All biological processes are affected by temperature, especially the reaction rates... Enzymatic activities are highly affected by temperature, and if you think about mitochondria, it would result in ATP production and ROS generation changes, which can set the thermal limit of a population...

Dear Jean

Please read: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/362/1488/2233.full

Best

Dola

Dear Jean,

this paper might help as well: Science 31 October 2008:

Vol. 322 no. 5902 pp. 690-692

DOI: 10.1126/science.1163156

@Victoria Metcalf @Nicolas Pichaud Am I right to assume that ROS refers to reactive oxygen species?

Yes!

Thanks for all the answers!

@Christian Bock: I found it but I currently only have access to the abstract. I'll try to look it up in our school's library system.

@Dola Bhattacharjee: Thanks! Reading it now...

Hello Gean,

Temperature has long been recognized as an important environmental factor in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in observed to its key role over biological activity such as development, growth and reproduction of organisms. Mainly temperature influences enzymatic reactions through hormonal and nervous control to digestion, from respiration and osmoregulation to all aspects of an organism’s performance and behavior. In general, which vary daily and on a seasonal basis; the cyclical pattern of diel variation in temperate regimes demonstrates an early morning low and a mid-afternoon high with mean daily temperatures reaching a maximum during summer. Particularly, these effects can limit marine biodiversity and global distribution.

Coming to how it affects physiological mechanisms in marine organisms

Mainly long-term, changes to the thermal regime of the surrounding environment can affect the evolutionary, physiological and behavioural responses of individual organisms. This change should reduce physiological mechanisms; it is related to protein function, particularly the catalytic efficiency of enzymes (Biochemical level). To function, enzymes must bind to substrates efficiently, catalyze reactions, and then release substrates and products that will allows further reactions to occur the binding cites of enzymes. If temperature to high, the binding cites are, in effect, too wide open and enzyme function is inefficient. Generally high temperature shock causes dysfunctional increases in binding sites it can causes total unfolding of the protein, producing irreversible damage.

So in this situation what animals can do? Animal responds produes heat shock proteins. I will give an example according to Hofmann and Somero, 1996 High latitude Mytilus trossulus responded to increased temperature by producing higher levels heat shock proteins, whereas the lower latitude M.galloprovincialis responds less, which suggested that soluble proteins function better at high temperatures. some studies showed that the disruption of physiological integration can sometimes be observed at the cellular level by ciliary activity of epithelial cells that can be examined over a range of temperatures.

Please read,

• Hofmann, G. E., and G. N. Somero. 1996a.. Interspecific variation in thermal denaturation of proteins in congeneric mussels Mytilus trossulus and M. galloprovincialis: Evidence from the heat-shock response and protein ubiquitination. Mar. Biol, 12665-75.

• Hofmann, G. E., and G. N. Somero. 1996b.. Protein ubiquitination and stress protein synthesis in Mytilus trossulus occurs during recovery from tidal emersion. Mol. Mar. Biol. Biotech, 5175-184.

• Hazel, J. R. 1995. Thermal adaptation in biological membranes—is homeoviscous adaptation the explanation? Ann. Rev. Physiol, 5719-42.

• Cossins, A. R., and K. Bowler. 1987. Temperature biology of animals. Chapman and Hall, London.

• Weinstein, R. B. and G. N. Somero. 1998. Effects of temperature on mitochondrial function in the Antarctic fish Trematomus bernacchii. J. Comp. Physiol. B. 168:190–196.

• Book:- Marine Biology: Function, Biodiversity, Ecology, 2nd Edition. 2001. New York, Oxford University Press, 515 pp

Dear Gean, in above book you should get information between 81-95 pages

All the best,

Naidu,SA

Hi Jean,

just in case :-)

Temperature plays an important role in the flexibility of fatty acids. For instance, if you put food that is rich in saturated fatty acids in the fridge, it forms a while solid. That is why fish that exist in very cold temperature (e.g.) deep in the ocean have a lot of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids to keep them flexible. Consequently, the fish from deep in the ocean has the highest omega 3 fatty acids naturally.

@Naidu: Levinton didn't seem to give a detailed discussion on the effects to physiology in his book so the articles should help. Thanks!

@Christian: Thanks for sharing the article :)

hi Jean!

besides on subcellular level (enzyme activity, protein functionality and in general metabolic processes nicely described above), temperature has effects on the whole organism. For instance, sea turtles are quite sensitive to temperature, from their incubation period (duration of the period as well as sex determination), to duration of the internesting interval (period between two consequenting nestings in the same season) and remigration interval (period between two nesting seasons). The first is, generally speaking, connected to their embrional development, second to maturation of their oocites, and third has, together with their own temp-depend. processes (digestion, respiration, growth, maintenance..), also substantial influences of food abundancy, which is also connected to temperature.

Of course, all of this is then connected with their distribution - from breeding to feeding and migration areas.

There are articles dealing with all of the mentioned turtle-related topics. (I don't know how interested you are in sea-turtles, so I won't attach anything, but even a short search will yield plenty material to go through! =)

Hope this helps a bit!

The ectotherms animals that inhabits in water environment are highly dependent of the temperature to drive adequate physiological response....

Please if you can read this paper...

Behavioural fever is a synergic signal amplifying the innate immune response

a new article about climate change (temp) and distribution shifts

Malin L. Pinsky, Boris Worm, Michael J. Fogarty, Jorge L. Sarmiento, and Simon A. Levin. Marine Taxa Track Local Climate Velocities. Science, 13 September 2013: 1239-1242 DOI:

News about the article (and main points) here:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130912143629.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fplants_animals%2Ffisheries+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Plants+%26+Animals+News+--+Fisheries%29

(seems the focus isn't on the physiology, but they do mention it briefly, so maybe it's worth a look)

Regarding the physiologically-relevant biochemistry of of the oxygen trasport in cold-adapted marine organism, see

1) C. Verde, A. Vergara, D. Giordano, L. Mazzarella, G. di Prisco “Hemoglobins of fishes living at polar latitudes: current knowledge on evolutionary and structural adaptation in a changing environment” Curr. Prot. Pept. Sci. (2008), 9(6), 578-590.

2) D. Coppola, S. Abbruzzetti, F. Nicoletti, A. Merlino, A. Gambacurta, D. Giordano, B. D. Howes, G. De Sanctis, L. Vitagliano, S. Bruno, G. di Prisco, L. Mazzarella, G. Smulevich, M. Coletta, C. Viappiani, A. Vergara*, C. Verde "ATP regulation of the ligand-binding properties in temperate and cold-adapted haemoglobins. X-ray structure and ligand-binding kinetics in the sub-Antarctic fish Eleginops maclovinus" Mol. Biosystems (2012), 8, 3295-3304

3) D. Giordano, L. Boechi, A. Vergara, M. A. Martí, U. Samuni, D. Dantsker, L. Grassi, D. A. Estrin, J.l M. Friedman, L. Mazzarella, G. di Prisco and C. Verde “The hemoglobins of the sub-Antarctic fish Cottoperca gobio, a phyletically basal species. Oxygen-binding equilibria, kinetics and molecular dynamics” FEBS J (2009) 276, 2266–2277.

Regarding the protection from oxidative stress in cold-adapted marine organism see:

4) A. Merlino, B. Howes, C. Verde, G. di Prisco, G. Smulevich, L. Mazzarella, A. Vergara*, " Occurrence and formation of endogenous histidine hexa-coordination in cold-adapted hemoglobins ” IUBMB life (2011) 63(5), 295-303.

5) A. Merlino, A. Vergara, F. Sica, L. Mazzarella “The bis-histidyl complex in hemoproteins: A detailed conformational analysis of database protein structures and the case of Antarctic fish hemoglobins” Marine genomics (2009), 2, 51-56.

6) A. Balsamo, F. Sannino, A. Merlino, E. Parrilli, L. Tutino, L. Mazzarella, A. Vergara* "Role of tertiary and quaternary structure in the formation of bis-histidyl adducts in cold-adapted hemoglobins“ Biochemie, (2012), 94, 953-960

7) A. Vergara, M. Franzese, A. Merlino, G. Bonomi, C. Verde, D. Giordano, G. Di Prisco, C. Lee, J. Peisach, L. Mazzarella, “Correlation between Root effect and hemichrome stability in tetrameric hemoglobins” Biophys. J. (2009) 97, 866-74.

All living organisms have a particular temperature range within which they can operate their metabolism, and exists an optimal range in which they do the best for their own functioning. Now, the question is why there is not too much research at this level to know better how climate change is impacting individual species populations?