Dim artificial light at night alters gene expression rhythms and growth in a key seagrass species (Posidonia oceanica)
Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a globally spreading anthropogenic stressor, affecting more than 20% of coastal habitats. The alteration of the natural light/darkness cycle is expected to impact the physiology of organisms by acting on the complex circuits termed as circadian rhythms. Our unders...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
2023
|
| Subjects: |
| _version_ | 1797111030087680000 |
|---|---|
| author | Dalle Carbonare, L Basile, A Rindi, L Bulleri, F Hamedeh, H Iacopino, S Shukla, V Weits, DA Lombardi, L Sbrana, A Benedetti-Cecchi, L Giuntoli, B Licausi, F Maggi, E |
| author_facet | Dalle Carbonare, L Basile, A Rindi, L Bulleri, F Hamedeh, H Iacopino, S Shukla, V Weits, DA Lombardi, L Sbrana, A Benedetti-Cecchi, L Giuntoli, B Licausi, F Maggi, E |
| author_sort | Dalle Carbonare, L |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a globally spreading anthropogenic stressor, affecting more than 20% of coastal habitats. The alteration of the natural light/darkness cycle is expected to impact the physiology of organisms by acting on the complex circuits termed as circadian rhythms. Our understanding of the impact of ALAN on marine organisms is lagging behind that of terrestrial ones, and effects on marine primary producers are almost unexplored. Here, we investigated the molecular and physiological response of the Mediterranean seagrass, <i>Posidonia oceanica</i> (L.) Delile, as model to evaluate the effect of ALAN on seagrass populations established in shallow waters, by taking advantage of a decreasing gradient of dim nocturnal light intensity (from < 0.01 to 4 lx) along the NW Mediterranean coastline. We first monitored the fluctuations of putative circadian-clock genes over a period of 24 h along the ALAN gradient. We then investigated whether key physiological processes, known to be synchronized with day length by the circadian rhythm, were also affected by ALAN. ALAN influenced the light signalling at dusk/night in <i>P. oceanica</i>, including that of shorter blue wavelengths, through the <i>ELF3–LUX1–ZTL</i> regulatory network, and suggested that the daily perturbation of internal clock orthologs in seagrass might have caused the recruitment of <i>PoSEND33</i> and <i>PoPSBS</i> genes to mitigate the repercussions of a nocturnal stress on photosynthesis during the day. A long-lasting impairment of gene fluctuations in sites characterised by ALAN could explain the reduced growth of the seagrass leaves when these were transferred into controlled conditions and without lighting during the night. Our results highlight the potential contribution of ALAN to the global loss of seagrass meadows, posing questions about key interactions with a variety of other human-related stressors in urban areas, in order to develop more efficient strategies to globally preserve these coastal foundation species. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:03:00Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:061f4dea-1d23-4ddd-ba5d-0fd411645b3f |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:03:00Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:061f4dea-1d23-4ddd-ba5d-0fd411645b3f2023-10-17T11:22:54ZDim artificial light at night alters gene expression rhythms and growth in a key seagrass species (Posidonia oceanica)Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:061f4dea-1d23-4ddd-ba5d-0fd411645b3fPlant stress responsesEcophysiologyPlant molecular biologyPlant ecologyPlant physiologyPlant evolutionLight responsesEnglishSymplectic ElementsSpringer Nature2023Dalle Carbonare, LBasile, ARindi, LBulleri, FHamedeh, HIacopino, SShukla, VWeits, DALombardi, LSbrana, ABenedetti-Cecchi, LGiuntoli, BLicausi, FMaggi, EArtificial light at night (ALAN) is a globally spreading anthropogenic stressor, affecting more than 20% of coastal habitats. The alteration of the natural light/darkness cycle is expected to impact the physiology of organisms by acting on the complex circuits termed as circadian rhythms. Our understanding of the impact of ALAN on marine organisms is lagging behind that of terrestrial ones, and effects on marine primary producers are almost unexplored. Here, we investigated the molecular and physiological response of the Mediterranean seagrass, <i>Posidonia oceanica</i> (L.) Delile, as model to evaluate the effect of ALAN on seagrass populations established in shallow waters, by taking advantage of a decreasing gradient of dim nocturnal light intensity (from < 0.01 to 4 lx) along the NW Mediterranean coastline. We first monitored the fluctuations of putative circadian-clock genes over a period of 24 h along the ALAN gradient. We then investigated whether key physiological processes, known to be synchronized with day length by the circadian rhythm, were also affected by ALAN. ALAN influenced the light signalling at dusk/night in <i>P. oceanica</i>, including that of shorter blue wavelengths, through the <i>ELF3–LUX1–ZTL</i> regulatory network, and suggested that the daily perturbation of internal clock orthologs in seagrass might have caused the recruitment of <i>PoSEND33</i> and <i>PoPSBS</i> genes to mitigate the repercussions of a nocturnal stress on photosynthesis during the day. A long-lasting impairment of gene fluctuations in sites characterised by ALAN could explain the reduced growth of the seagrass leaves when these were transferred into controlled conditions and without lighting during the night. Our results highlight the potential contribution of ALAN to the global loss of seagrass meadows, posing questions about key interactions with a variety of other human-related stressors in urban areas, in order to develop more efficient strategies to globally preserve these coastal foundation species. |
| spellingShingle | Plant stress responses Ecophysiology Plant molecular biology Plant ecology Plant physiology Plant evolution Light responses Dalle Carbonare, L Basile, A Rindi, L Bulleri, F Hamedeh, H Iacopino, S Shukla, V Weits, DA Lombardi, L Sbrana, A Benedetti-Cecchi, L Giuntoli, B Licausi, F Maggi, E Dim artificial light at night alters gene expression rhythms and growth in a key seagrass species (Posidonia oceanica) |
| title | Dim artificial light at night alters gene expression rhythms and growth in a key seagrass species (Posidonia oceanica) |
| title_full | Dim artificial light at night alters gene expression rhythms and growth in a key seagrass species (Posidonia oceanica) |
| title_fullStr | Dim artificial light at night alters gene expression rhythms and growth in a key seagrass species (Posidonia oceanica) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dim artificial light at night alters gene expression rhythms and growth in a key seagrass species (Posidonia oceanica) |
| title_short | Dim artificial light at night alters gene expression rhythms and growth in a key seagrass species (Posidonia oceanica) |
| title_sort | dim artificial light at night alters gene expression rhythms and growth in a key seagrass species posidonia oceanica |
| topic | Plant stress responses Ecophysiology Plant molecular biology Plant ecology Plant physiology Plant evolution Light responses |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dallecarbonarel dimartificiallightatnightaltersgeneexpressionrhythmsandgrowthinakeyseagrassspeciesposidoniaoceanica AT basilea dimartificiallightatnightaltersgeneexpressionrhythmsandgrowthinakeyseagrassspeciesposidoniaoceanica AT rindil dimartificiallightatnightaltersgeneexpressionrhythmsandgrowthinakeyseagrassspeciesposidoniaoceanica AT bullerif dimartificiallightatnightaltersgeneexpressionrhythmsandgrowthinakeyseagrassspeciesposidoniaoceanica AT hamedehh dimartificiallightatnightaltersgeneexpressionrhythmsandgrowthinakeyseagrassspeciesposidoniaoceanica AT iacopinos dimartificiallightatnightaltersgeneexpressionrhythmsandgrowthinakeyseagrassspeciesposidoniaoceanica AT shuklav dimartificiallightatnightaltersgeneexpressionrhythmsandgrowthinakeyseagrassspeciesposidoniaoceanica AT weitsda dimartificiallightatnightaltersgeneexpressionrhythmsandgrowthinakeyseagrassspeciesposidoniaoceanica AT lombardil dimartificiallightatnightaltersgeneexpressionrhythmsandgrowthinakeyseagrassspeciesposidoniaoceanica AT sbranaa dimartificiallightatnightaltersgeneexpressionrhythmsandgrowthinakeyseagrassspeciesposidoniaoceanica AT benedetticecchil dimartificiallightatnightaltersgeneexpressionrhythmsandgrowthinakeyseagrassspeciesposidoniaoceanica AT giuntolib dimartificiallightatnightaltersgeneexpressionrhythmsandgrowthinakeyseagrassspeciesposidoniaoceanica AT licausif dimartificiallightatnightaltersgeneexpressionrhythmsandgrowthinakeyseagrassspeciesposidoniaoceanica AT maggie dimartificiallightatnightaltersgeneexpressionrhythmsandgrowthinakeyseagrassspeciesposidoniaoceanica |