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Whales Use Distinct Strategies to Counteract Solar Ultraviolet Radiation

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Mark Birch-MachinORCiD, Dr Amy Bowman

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Abstract

A current threat to the marine ecosystem is the high level of solar ultraviolet radiation (UV). Large whales have recently been shown to suffer sun-induced skin damage from continuous UV exposure. Genotoxic consequences of such exposure remain unknown for these long-lived marine species, as does their capacity to counteract UV-induced insults. We show that UV exposure induces mitochondrial DNA damage in the skin of seasonally sympatric fin, sperm, and blue whales and that this damage accumulates with age. However, counteractive molecular mechanisms are markedly different between species. For example, sperm whales, a species that remains for long periods at the sea surface, activate genotoxic stress pathways in response to UV exposure whereas the paler blue whale relies on increased pigmentation as the season progresses. Our study also shows that whales can modulate their responses to fluctuating levels of UV, and that different evolutionary constraints may have shaped their response strategies

Publication metadata

Author(s): Martinez-Levasseur L, Birch-Machin MA, Bowman A, Gendron D, Weatherhead E, Knell R, Acevedo-Whitehouse K

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Nature Scientific Reports

Year: 2013

Volume: 3

Print publication date: 30/08/2013

Date deposited: 09/09/2013

ISSN (print): 0028-0836

ISSN (electronic): 1476-4687

Publisher: Nature Publishing Group

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep02386

DOI: 10.1038/srep02386

Notes: I AM CO-SENIOR AND CO-CORRESPONDING AUTHOR. DESIGNED AND EXCECUTED THE SCIENCE IN MY LAB

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