The susceptibility of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica to infe
ction by the protozoan parasite Perkinsus marinus is influenced by tem
perature. Because of the crucial roles of heat shock proteins in cellu
lar thermal tolerance and in host-parasite adaptations in other specie
s, we compared the in vitro heat shock responses of cultured P. marin
us and of oyster hemocytes. The parasite and host heat shock proteins
were different in size and in immunochemical specificity. In addition,
the thermal threshold for inducing the response was higher for P. mar
inus acclimated to the same temperature as the oysters. The results su
ggest that EI marinus is likely to employ heat shock proteins as part
of its adaptive survival repertoire and that it may be able to functio
n normally under conditions of hyperthermia that evoke an emergency ph
ysiological response from the oyster defense cells. Furthermore, they
indicate that it is feasible to investigate the host's and parasite's
adaptive responses to each other, since their individual responses are
readily distinguishable.