Natural annual cycle of heat shock protein expression in land snails: Desert versus Mediterranean species of Sphincterochila

Zeev Arad*, Tal Mizrahi, Shoshana Goldenberg, Joseph Heller

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

Land snails are subject to daily and seasonal variations in temperature and in water availability, and have evolved annual cycles of activity and aestivation as part of their survival strategy. We tested in the field whether adaptation to different habitats affects the endogenous levels of heat shock proteins (HSPs) in two closely related Sphincterochilasnail species, a desiccation-resistant desert species Sphincterochila zonata, and a Mediterranean-type, desiccation-sensitive species, S. cariosa. We examined HSP levels in various tissues of snails during aestivation and after resumption of activity. Our study shows that, during aestivation, S. cariosahad higher standing stocks of Hsp70 in the foot and the hepatopancreas, and of small HSPs (sHSPs) in all the examined tissues, whereas S. zonatahad higher stocks of Hsp70 in the kidney and of Hsp90 in the kidney and in the hepatopancreas. Arousal induced a general upregulation of HSPs, except for Hsp90, the expression of which in the foot was higher during aestivation. We suggest that the stress protein machinery is upregulated during arousal in anticipation of possible oxidative stress ensuing from the accelerating metabolic rate and the exit from the deep hypometabolic state. Our findings support the concept that, in land snails, aestivation and activity represent two distinct physiological states, and suggest that land snails use HSPs as important components of the aestivation mechanism, and as part of their survival strategy during and after arousal. Our study also indicates that adaptation to different habitats results in the development of distinct strategies of HSP expression with likely consequences for the ecology and distribution of land snails.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3487-3495
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Experimental Biology
Volume213
Issue number20
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2010

Keywords

  • Aestivation
  • Annual cycle
  • Arousal
  • Environmental stress
  • HSP
  • Land snails

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