2022/10/01 by Christopher J. Coates, Flávia A. Belato, Flávia Ariany Belato +3 · 5 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · Immunology and Microbiology · #Biochemistry #Biology #Deoxygenation #Ecology #Evolutionary biology #Function (biology) #Invertebrate #Invertebrate Immune Response Mechanisms #Marine invertebrates #Ocean Acidification Effects and Responses #Oxygen #Oxygen transport #Physiological and biochemical adaptations
paper · doi:10.1086/722472
published in Biological Bulletin 243(2), 134-148 (Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL))
openalex publication_date 2022/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
AbstractPredictions for climate change-to lesser and greater extents-reveal a common scenario in which marine waters are characterized by a deadly trio of stressors: higher temperatures, lower oxygen levels, and acidification. Ectothermic taxa that inhabit coastal waters, such as shellfish, are vulnerable to rapid and prolonged environmental disturbances, such as heatwaves, pollution-induced eutrophication, and dysoxia. Oxygen transport capacity of the hemolymph (blood equivalent) is considered the proximal driver of thermotolerance and respiration in many invertebrates. Moreover, maintaining homeostasis under environmental duress is inextricably linked to the activities of the hemolymph-based oxygen transport or binding proteins. Several protein groups fulfill this role in marine invertebrates: copper-based extracellular hemocyanins, iron-based intracellular hemoglobins and hemerythrins, and giant extracellular hemoglobins. In this brief text, we revisit the distribution and multifunctional properties of oxygen transport proteins, notably hemocyanins, in the context of climate change, and the consequent physiological reprogramming of marine invertebrates.