The mangrove fern genus Acrostichum grows in the extremely unstable marine intertidal zone under harsh conditions, such as high salt concentrations, tidal rhythms and long-term climate changes. To explore the phylogenetic relationships and molecular mechanisms underlying adaptations in this genus, we sequenced the transcriptomes of two species of Acrostichum, A. aureum and A. speciosum, as well...

Coastal line is now polluted by many kinds of sewage including heavy metals discharged by intensive human activities. Cadmium is a nonessential heavy metal for organisms and can cause many kinds of adverse effect on the organisms. Suaeda salsa, a pioneer halophyte in intertidal zone of the Bohai coast, was proved to have cadmium-tolerant capacity. Given that, S. salsa was suggested as a potenti...

ABSTRACT The intertidal zone is one of the most stressful environments, with extreme shifts in temperature, salinity, pH and oxygen concentration. Marine molluscs, particularly chitons that belong to category ecologically significant organisms, survive this environment, are ideal systems for studying stress adaptation. Mitochondria known be critical energy homeostasis, changes environmental fac...

AIMS To determine the levels and species distribution of enterococci in intertidal and marine sediments and coastal waters at two beaches frequently in violation of bacterial water standards. METHODS AND RESULTS Faecal indicator bacteria were extracted from sediment and enumerated using membrane filtration. High levels of enterococci were detected in intertidal sediments in a seasonal river a...

Animals with habitats within the intertidal zone are exposed to environmental cycles that include the ebb and flow of tidal waters, changes in tidal levels associated with the lunar month, the light-dark cycle and the alternation of seasons. This intricate temporal environment results in the selection of biological timing systems with endogenous clocks that can oscillate with this wide range of...

Nitrogen metabolism was examined in the intertidal seaweeds Fucus vesiculosus, Fucus serratus, Fucus spiralis and Laminaria digitata in a temperate Irish sea lough. Internal NO(3) (-) storage, total N content and nitrate reductase activity (NRA) were most affected by ambient NO(3) (-), with highest values in winter, when ambient NO(3) (-) was maximum, and declined with NO(3) (-) during summer. ...

The physiological strategies that enable organisms to thrive in habitats where environmental factors vary dramatically on a daily basis are poorly understood. One of the most variable and unpredictable habitats on earth is the marine rocky intertidal zone located at the boundary between the terrestrial and marine environments. Mussels dominate rocky intertidal habitats throughout the world and,...

As we move into the Anthropocene, organisms inhabiting marine environments will continue to face growing challenges associated with changes in ocean pH (ocean acidification), dissolved oxygen (dead zones) and temperature. These factors, in combination with naturally variable environments such as the rocky intertidal zone, may create extreme physiological challenges for organisms that are alread...

The intertidal zone has historically functioned as an important natural laboratory for testing ideas about how physical factors such as temperature influence organismal physiology and in turn influence the distribution patterns of organisms. Key to our understanding of how the physical environment helps structure organismal distribution is the identification of physiological processes that have...

Predator depletion on Cape Cod (USA) has released the herbivorous crab Sesarmareticulatum from predator control leading to the loss of cordgrass from salt marsh creek banks. After more than three decades of die-off, cordgrass is recovering at heavily damaged sites coincident with the invasion of green crabs (Carcinusmaenas) into intertidal Sesarma burrows. We hypothesized that Carcinus is depen...