Habitat pollution and thermal regime modify molecular stress responses to elevated temperature in freshwater mussels (Anodonta anatina: Unionidae)

Elevated temperature and pollution are common stressors in freshwater ecosystems. We study cellular stress response to acute warming in Anodonta anatina (Unionidae) from sites with different thermal regimes and pollution levels: a pristine area and an agriculturally polluted site with normal temperature regimes (F and A, respectively) and a polluted site with elevated temperature (N) from the cooling pond of an electrical power plant. Animals were exposed to different temperatures for 14 days and stress response markers were measured in gills, digestive gland and hemocytes. Mussels from site N and A had elevated background levels of lactate dehydrogenase activity indicating higher reliance on anaerobic metabolism for ATP production and/or redox maintenance. Exposure to 25 °C and 30 °C induced oxidative stress (indicated by elevated levels of lipid peroxidation products) in digestive gland and gills of mussels from A and F sites, while in mussels from N sites elevated oxidative stress was only apparent at 30 °C. Temperature-induced changes in levels of antioxidants (superoxide dismutase, metallothioneins and glutathione) were tissue- and population-specific. Acute warming led to destabilization of lysosomal membranes and increased frequencies of nuclear lesions in mussels from F and A sites but not in their counterparts from N site. Elevated temperature led to an increase in the frequency of micronuclei in hemocytes in mussels from F and A sites at 25 °C and 30 °C and in mussels from N site at 30 °C. The mussels from N site also demonstrated better survival at elevated temperature (30 °C) than their counterparts from the F and A sites. Taken together, these data indicate that long-term acclimation and/or adaptation of A. anatina to elevated temperatures result in increased thermotolerance and alleviate stress response to moderate temperature rise. In contrast, extreme warming (30 °C) is harmful to mussels from all populations indicating limit to this induced thermotolerance.