The Role of Intergenerational Plasticity (IGP) in Adaptive Response to Extreme Temperatures in the Porcelain Crab Petrolisthes cinctipes
Josephine Grell
Department of Biology
Faculty Supervisor: Jonathon Stillman
The intertidal zone is drastically impacted by marine and atmospheric heatwaves, and is home to many oviparous ectotherms, which are influenced by temperature shifts, causing physiological changes. The porcelain crab, Petrolisthes cinctipes, is a useful model to understand impact on intertidal ectotherms. Previous research has found that IGP can alter embryonic developmental physiology under short thermal extreme conditions in ectotherms, and specifically, that IGP can alter development in P. cinctipes embryos as a short-term strategy to adapt to heatwaves. However, the reproductive output and embryonic development under extended thermal stress remains unstudied. My project aims to investigate how increased thermal stress will impact the reproductive output of P. cinctipes and if there is evidence of intergenerational plasticity (IGP) in embryos from parents exposed to thermal stress. To test this, I will evaluate P. cinctipes parent fecundity, embryogenesis, and specific gene expression between two treatment groups: high and low temperature variability. I expect to see evidence of IGP through increased yolk consumption, growth rate, hatching success, and heat shock protein expression in thermally stressed embryos from parents in high variability treatment. Understanding how organisms are responding to thermal stress will aid in predicting the future ecosystem impacts of climate change.