Cumulative effects of high temperature and low dissolved oxygen alter the acute thermal tolerance and cellular stress response in lake trout

Abstract

Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) is an important food fish in Northern communities, inhabiting cool, well-oxygenated water. Yet, climate change is reducing available habitat with extended summer stratification of lakes creating an upper thermal barrier ([~]15 {degrees}C) and lower dissolved oxygen (DO) boundary (4-7 mg L-1). Together, these environmental factors can influence tolerance thresholds and climate change may lead to abiotic factors exceeding these physiological thresholds in lake trout habitats. Thresholds can shift with environmental acclimation in lake trout populations, but the functional basis of this shift has yet to be examined. The abundance of mRNA transcripts offers insight into underlying cellular responses to environmental stressors that can provide an early warning of fitness consequences. Here, we used a stress-response transcriptional profiling chip to investigate a suite of genes involved in thermal and general stress in lake trout acclimated to a range of temperatures (6-18 {degrees}C) and DO (normoxia: > 8.5 mg L-1 or hypoxia: 5.5-6.5 mg L-1), as well as following an acute thermal stress (i.e., CTmax). Transcriptional profiles were assessed in the gill, liver, and and epidermal mucus. Generally, fish acclimated to the greatest combined stressor (18 {degrees}C and hypoxia) had the largest transcriptional response, suggestive of a transition from a routine stress response to an extreme survival response. A noted temperature dependence occurred in liver tissue, which was not evident in gill or mucus tissues. Further, transcriptional responses in the gill and mucus were highly correlated (r = 0.74-0.87), highlighting the potential use of these tissues for non-lethal sampling methods to enhance management and conservation strategies for lake trout across their distribution.