[All-postdocs] Bioseminar - Yaamini Venkataraman

[Ana Velez]

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Biology Department Seminar

Thursday, June 26, 2025 - 12:00 pm
Redfield Auditorium

Yaamini Venkataraman
Guest Investigator, WHOI

Investigating Genomic and Plastic Contributions to Thermal Tolerance in a Non-Indigenous Crab
European green crabs (Carcinus maenas) are a prolific non-indigenous species (NIS) with high thermal tolerance that negatively impact species important for tribal food sovereignty and commercial shellfish production in North America. Recent examination of a putative inversion found a high proportion of amino acid-changing mutations in genes strongly linked with thermal tolerance, suggesting a genetic basis for thermal tolerance. The low overall genetic diversity due to serial bottlenecks and high thermal plasticity exhibited by crabs presents a genetic paradox: how is thermal tolerance maintained with seemingly low adaptive potential? This talk will explore genetic and environmental contributions to thermal tolerance of C. maenas populations in Massachusetts and Washington, USA. Crabs were exposed to cold (5ºC), ambient (15ºC), or warm (25ºC or 30ºC) temperatures for at least one month, and monitored weekly using time-to-right and respirometry. In both populations, crab righting response and rate of oxygen consumption slowed at 5ºC compared to 15ºC, but there was no change in physiology between 15ºC and 25ºC or 30ºC treatments. Metabolome and lipidome analysis elucidated biochemical pathways used to maintain homeostasis. Thermal tolerance phenotype was also compared between supergene genotypes and temperatures to determine how genotype and environment shaped individual performance. This work illustrates the importance of understanding factors that contribute to within-population stress tolerance, as individual variation may improve overall population fitness and influence spread of NIS.

For questions, contact:

Ana Maria Velez
Biology Pre-Award Administrative Associate
Ph: (+1)(508)289-2334
[signature_1005462319]

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