Gene expression fingerprints of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) exposed to pulp and paper mill effluents

Because of persistent organic pollution in aquatic environments, the widely used organochlorine pesticide endosulfan, which is a potential endocrine disruptor, is expected to pose a significant risk to aquatic organisms. In the present study, we explored the potential endocrine-disrupting risk of β-endosulfan by investigating its effect on the growth, reproduction, plasma vitellogenin, and organ histology of adult zebrafish. We found that, although β-endosulfan did not significantly affect the growth of zebrafish, it greatly decreased the hatching rate, even at a concentration as low as 10 ng/L. Interestingly, the decrease of the hatching rate was highly correlated with pathological alterations of the testes. Additionally, the values of the gonadosomatic index were significantly reduced in female zebrafish treated with 200 ng/L β-endosulfan, which was also closely associated with ovarian histological changes. More importantly, a significant increase in the level of vitellogenin was observed in all male fish treated with β-endosulfan. Based on these findings, we conclude that β-endosulfan severely affects the reproductive function of zebrafish and the synthesis of vitellogenin in the liver, and thus, β-endosulfan has a serious endocrine disruption function in zebrafish.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of β‐endosulfan on the growth and reproduction of zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Han

Jiao

Kong

et al. 2011

“…The enzyme CYP1A is a robust biomarker of acute exposure to certain xenobiotic compounds, but the dynamics are not simple. Exposure to paper mill effluents has been shown elsewhere to result in an upregulation of CYP 1A [5] that was accompanied by a generalized down-regulation of genes normally expressed during the reproductive season in female fish [34]. Estrogens have been shown to suppress CYP 1A [35], but the presence of other compounds in wastewater treatment plant effluent may still result in an overall induction of CYP1A [36].…”

Section: Androscoggin River Gradientmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) to pulp and paper mill effluent in the Androscoggin River, Maine, USA

Mower

Munkittrick

McMaster

et al. 2010

Adverse effects of pulp and paper mill effluent on fish populations have been well documented in many countries over the last two decades. Some of the initial studies were at mills with conventional chlorine bleaching and no secondary effluent treatment. Following installation of secondary treatment, changes in bleaching technology to elemental chlorine-free bleaching, and other process changes, adverse effects on fish were reduced or eliminated at some mills. Because no two mills are exactly alike, it is difficult to predict adverse impacts of any given mill on fish populations. In 1994, a study of female white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) in the Androscoggin River, Maine, USA, showed induction of mixed function oxidase, reductions in gonad size and plasma estradiol, and an increase in plasma testosterone in fish downstream of discharges from three large bleached kraft pulp and paper mills, and host community municipal sewage treatment plants (STP). After all three mills switched to elemental chlorine-free bleaching in the late 1990s, studies from 2001 to 2003 found that the pattern of reproductive impacts on white sucker populations measured in 1994 was not repeated. In addition, population estimates of white sucker from 2002 to 2003 using mark-recapture techniques found that densities and biomass were well within the range of those of a reference population, and of those reported in the literature for unimpacted populations. Detailed studies immediately above and below each mill/sewage treatment plant showed no evidence of reproductive effects. However, a clear pattern of eutrophication was noted, which increased cumulatively downstream below each mill/STP.

“…Six EDC-and stress-responsive genes were chosen for analysis: androgen receptor (AR) and estrogen receptor beta subunit (ERb) to evaluate androgenic effects in the effluents [21,22], estrogen receptor alpha subunit (ERa) and VTG to detect possible feminizing effects [6,10,23], CYP1A as a marker of induction of the detoxification system [5], and metallothionein as an indicator of the presence of heavy metals [24].…”

Section: Behavior Coloration and Tuberclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, very few studies have examined changes in fish gene expression after exposure to complex chemical mixtures such as pulp and paper mill effluents [6,10,11]. The aim of the present study is thus to examine changes in reproduction-and detoxificationrelated gene expression in FHMs exposed to pulp and paper mill effluents, and relate this data to traditional toxicology endpoints.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other observed effects include altered steroid hormone levels and secondary sexual characteristics, and decreased fecundity and egg size [4]. To address these problems, over the past decade the pulp and paper mill industry has introduced effluent treatment technologies, such as removal of elemental chlorine from the paperbleaching process, that have collectively improved wastewater quality [5] and alleviated many of the negative effects of their operations on wild fish populations [3,5,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Pulp and paper mill effluents induce distinct gene expression changes linked to androgenic and estrogenic responses in the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas)

Werner

Ouellet

Cheng

et al. 2009

Although effluent treatment systems within pulp and paper mills remove many toxicants and improve wastewater quality, there is a need to understand and quantify the effectiveness of the treatment process. At a combined news and kraft pulp and paper mill in northwestern Ontario, Canada, fathead minnow (FHM) reproduction and physiology were examined before, during, and after a short-term (6-d) exposure to 10% (v/v) untreated kraft mill effluent (UTK), 25% (v/v) secondary treated kraft mill effluent (TK), and 100% (v/v) combined mill outfall (CMO). Although UTK exposure significantly decreased egg production, neither TK nor CMO caused any reproductive changes. The expression of six genes responsive to endocrine-disrupting compounds, stress, or metals was then examined in livers of these fish using real-time polymerase chain reaction. In female FHMs, none of the three effluents induced significant expression changes in any genes investigated. By contrast, in males there were significant increases in the mRNA levels of androgen receptor, estrogen receptor (ER) beta, and cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) upon UTK and TK exposure but no changes in ERalpha or vitellogenin (VTG) gene expression, whereas CMO exposure significantly increased the mRNA levels of ERalpha, VTG, and CYP1A. Together, these results suggest that kraft effluent before and after biological treatment contained compounds able to induce androgenic effects in FHMs, and that combination of kraft and newsmill effluents eliminated the androgenic compounds while inducing distinct and significant patterns of gene expression changes that were likely due to estrogenic compounds produced by the newsmill.