Transcriptional profiling of populations in the clam Ruditapes decussatus

Transcriptional profiling of populations in the clam Ruditapes decussatus determined differentiation in gene-expression along parallel temperature gradients and between races of the Atlantic Ocean and West Mediterranean sea. Clams of the Atlantic and West Mediterranean races were collected in two northern (cool) and two southern (warm) localities of Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean sea. The animals were kept in running, unfiltered seawater in the Atlantic southern locality for a 15-week period, during which water temperature raised naturally to typical southern European summer values. After this period, the expression profile of each clam was obtained for a total of 34 individuals and 11,025 probes by means of an oligonucleotide microarray.