PID2022-142802NB-I00

Unveiling the impacts of chronic heavy metal exposure on key macroalgal foundation species: a multidisciplinary and integrative approach.

A research project in collaboration with

Knowledge Generation Projects 2022 Unfocused Research Type B; Area: Environmental Sciences and Technologies Subarea: Marine Sciences and Technologies

Our project

Do macroalgae respond to chronic HM exposure to avoid the associated stress? What are the phenotypic traits involved in such response and how are they changing? Does this response have any associated trade-offs that could compromise macroalgal persistence in the long-term?

Fucus vesiculosus L.

What can we do about it?

Macroalgae, especially large brown macroalgae (class Phaeophyceae), have been used for decades in biomonitoring studies of coastal waters due to their capacity to take up, accumulate, and tolerate significant amounts of HMs in their thalli. Yet, we still know surprisingly little about whether and how they respond to chronic HM exposure.

Unresolved questions include: Do macroalgae respond to chronic HM exposure to avoid the associated stress? What are the phenotypic traits involved in such response and how are they changing? Does this response have any associated trade-offs that could compromise macroalgal persistence in the long-term?

So far, these questions have been separately addressed to some extent in different macroalgal species under different ecological contexts making important, but independent contributions to the puzzle of the response of this taxon to heavy metal pollution. Hence, a holistic view of this response and of its potential toll on macroalgal fitness is yet to be provided.

We seek a greater understanding and predictive capacity of the ecological and evolutionary consequences of marine environmental pollution.

With CoastProtect, we seek, for the first time, to obtain an integrated view of the ecological interaction between heavy metals and macroalgae using as a model the brown macroalga Fucus vesiculosus L. For this, we will use a multidisciplinary approach that will allow us to:

1We will define the phenotypic traits involved in the response of F. vesiculosus to chronic HM exposure.

For this, we considered the different mechanisms that allow macroalgae to take up HMs, identified the phenotypic traits involved, and will assess whether there is a shift in their phenotypic value as a result of pollution.

2We will determine whether this response is based on acclimation and/or adaptive processes (i.e. determine its molecular basis) and whether HM stress could have led to a decrease in the (epi)genetic diversity of macroalgae from polluted environments.

For this, we will use a DNA sequencing approach that will allow us to simultaneously look for a signature of genetic differentiation among populations subjected to different levels of heavy metals in the field for multiple generations, and to test whether epigenetic mechanisms (specifically, DNA methylation) are involved in the acclimation response.

3We will determine whether and to what extent this response compromises the fitness of macroalgae

For this we will test if resource investment in the acclimation/adaptive response could have led to a decrease in the capacity of plants to grow and reproduce.

Learn about our progress

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Assessing the effectiveness of seaweed transplants in reflecting seawater pollution levels
Authors:
Vázquez-Arias, A., Boquete M.T., Fernández, J.A., Aboal, J.R.
Paper:
Science of the Total Environment, under revision
This study shows that transplants of Fucus vesiculosus do not reliably reflect the concentrations of elements in seawater, suggesting that complex environmental factors affect their bioavailability and accumulation.
Nanoscale distribution of potentially toxic elements in seaweeds revealed by synchrotron X-ray fluorescence
Authors:
Vázquez-Arias, A., Boquete, M.T., Martín-Jouve, B., Tucoulou, R., Rodríguez-Prieto, C., Fernández, J.A., Aboal, J.R.
Paper:
Journal of Hazardous Materials in press
To assess the impact of ETPs on coastal algae, S-XRF was used to map their subcellular accumulation in Fucus vesiculosus, highlighting the role of physodes in their regulation and storage.
Tracing 30 years of genetic diversity changes along pollution gradients in brown algae: A pool-sequencing approach
Authors:
Pacín, C., Boquete, M.T., Aboal, J.R., Fernández, J.A., Cronholm, B., Wernberg, T., Starko, S.
Congress:
Book of Abstracts – Posters - of the XX International Botanical Congress (IBC 2024), 21-27 July 2024, Madrid, España. P.0168, p. 604.
This study analyzes the genetic diversity of Fucus vesiculosus along a 30-year pollution gradient, revealing genetic losses in polluted populations and their relevance to adaptability in coastal environments.

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Finalising the paper on the relationship between the concentration of PETs in water and in Fucus vesiculosus transplants (live and devitalised).

8 October 2024

Poster presentations at IBC 2024 in Madrid

16 September 2024

Sampling for the study of the relationship between dichotomies and photosynthetic efficiency and composition in tidal gradients in Fucus vesiculosus

20 August 2024

Learn more about our project

Altogether, this non-oriented project will lay the foundation for a better understanding and predictive capacity of the ecological and evolutionary consequences of marine environmental pollution.