Study finds oysters can take heat and heavy metals, bu...( y other cold blooded organisms as well....)

y other cold blooded organisms as well. Though the levels of the pollutants have been determined to be tolerable, and oysters have evolved to be able to handle warm water temperatures for a few months, the combination pushes them to a crisis point where any further change (such as seasonal temperature increases caused by global warming) can make their survival unlikely.

Oysters are right at the boundary already, she said. Some earlier studies show that oysters stop growing when the temperature is above 28 degrees. These conditions are stressful for them and they spend all their energy just staying alive they dont have anything extra that they can invest in growth. This also means that they dont have anything extra that they can invest in protection against toxins that may be in the water. An increase in seasonal temperatures would be an additional problem.

The current environmental stresses on oysters may in fact be partially responsible for recent outbreaks of disease that have already decimated many eastern oyster beds.

Metabolic dysfunction can certainly contribute to disease susceptibility, Sokolova noted. A host-parasite relationship is always a two-sided story, and the outcome is dependent on the invasiveness and abundance of the parasite and the host's ability to ward the parasite off.

Most immune functions are energy-dependent and quite expensive in energetic terms, so when energy demands for basal metabolic maintenance increase during temperature stress, less is left over for other functions such as immunity. On top of this, if the parasite can better and faster proliferate in the warmth, the balance can be tipped towards disease.

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Contact: James Hathaway
jbhathaw@email.uncc.edu
704-687-6675
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
13-Dec-2006

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