Proteomic insights into the effects of shipping noise on blue mussel early development

Overview & Synopsis

Anthropogenic underwater noise is a growing environmental stressor in coastal ecosystems, yet its molecular effects on invertebrate early life stages remain poorly understood. Using a data-independent acquisition proteomic workflow, we characterized the proteome of blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) post-larvae and examined changes in protein abundance following exposure to realistic cargo-shipping noise. A total of 7249 proteins were identified, of which 902 showed significant abundance differences across low, medium, and high sound pressure levels (i.e., 121, 127, and 151 dB re 1 μPa, respectively). Functional enrichment and interaction analyses revealed coordinated, intensity-dependent changes in proteins involved in metabolic, cytoskeletal, and regulatory processes. Forty-nine proteins were consistently regulated across treatments, including candidates associated with developmental regulation, morphogenesis, and shell-related pathways, indicating a conserved molecular response to acoustic exposure. Those results provide a reference proteomic dataset for M. edulis post-larvae and highlight proteome-level plasticity associated with shipping-related acoustic disturbance during metamorphosis.