Effects of crude oil and oil dispersant on Aiptasia pallida sea anemones

The scale and scope of oil production and transportation is a potential threat to marine ecosystems. Oil dispersants are surfactant molecules regularly used in oil spill remediation. By solubilizing normally non‐polar oil molecules, dispersants act to break up surface slicks, increasing the amount of oil that is churned into the water column by wave action. Though this reduces the visual impact of spilled oil, as well as decreasing the amount that washes up on shores, the effects of dispersed oil on subsurface organisms are relatively unstudied. The susceptibility of coral reefs, already under threat from global warming and ocean acidification, is particularly important, given their sensitivity and biological productivity. In this study, sea anemones, Aiptasia pallida , were exposed to varying concentrations of plain crude oil and crude oil dispersed with Corexit EC9500A. Anemones in the highest concentrations of crude oil, and in all concentrations of dispersed oil, showed a visible, acute toxic response over the 12 hour test period. Preliminary gene expression analysis indicates that both oil and dispersed oil treatment significantly destabilize the expression of poly‐A binding protein, a “housekeeping” gene that is involved in all cellular protein translation. Further, 1% and 10% oil treatments significantly upregulate the expression of the oxidative stress protein catalase. In addition, preliminary proteomic results will be presented. Funding was provided by the Research Corporation for the Advancement of Science Cottrell College Science Multi‐investigator Award.