Krill Responses to Variations in Environmental Temperature (KREVET)

Krill, which represent the most important oceanic biomass, is an essential component of the Antarctic food web. The Antarctic krill (such as Euphausia superba) is strictly stenothermal (Saborowski and Bucholz, 1999; Bucholz and Saborowski, 2000) and thus especially susceptible to any thermal change such as the one predicted from the global earth warming. Almost nothing is known about the thermal ecophysiology of this species.

This program aims at elucidating the putative regulatory capacities of krill upon a thermal shock, in vivo, and the mechanisms involved in this response, by molecular approaches. As markers, two proteins will be studied: the Heat Shock Proteins (HSPs) and a neuropeptide known to be involved in response to stress in Crustaceans: the Crustacean Hyperglycemic Hormone (CHH).

In addition to ecophysiological interest, the data collected will increase our knowledge on the
molecular evolution of these proteins belonging to widely represented families in Arthropods.