Sibling species differently distributed around a CO₂ vent show transplantation proteomic remodelling, while...

The cellular homeostatic response (CHR) and cellular stress response (CSR) work together to maintain homeostasis. Studying phylogenetically closely-related species inhabiting different environments can help investigate the interplay between the CHR and CSR. We conducted reciprocal in situ transplant experiments in a natural CO₂ vent (Ischia, Italy), using the sibling annelid species Platynereis cf.. dumerilii and Platynereis cf.. massiliensis which have been shown to have different preferential distributions around the CO₂ vent. Following transplantations, we characterised the response of each individual's proteome, metabolome, and lipidome, to short or long-term exposure to different pCO₂ regimes (i.e., high and low), and confirmed its genetic identity. Here we show that different components of the CHR and CSR are utilised at different rates when Platynereis spp. are exposed to different pCO₂ regimes, with cellular responses shown to be conserved across species. Metabolome and lipidome responses were dependent on regime of origin, and changed relatively slowly, whereas proteome responses were dependent on transplant type and changed more rapidly. Our results provide new insights to improve our understanding of the interplay between different cellular physiological responses involved in defining the functional phenotype of marine species, and their ability to acclimatise to future projected high pCO₂ conditions.