Metabolic responses of the isopod Porcellionides pruinosus to nickel exposure assessed by 1H NMR metabolomics

Abstract

This work aimed at characterizing the metabolome of the isopod Porcellionides pruinosus and at assessing its variations over 14 days under laboratory culture conditions and upon exposure to the contaminant metal Nickel (Ni). The spectral profiles obtained by 1 H NMR spectroscopy were thoroughly assigned and subjected to multivariate analysis in order to highlight consistent changes. Over 50 metabolites could be identified, providing considerable new knowledge on the metabolome of these model organisms. Several metabolites changed non-linearly with Ni dose and exposure time, showing distinct variation patterns for initial (4 days) and later time points (7 and 14 days). In particular, at day 4, several amino acids were increased and sugars were decreased (compared to controls), whereas these variations were inverted for longer exposure, possibly reflecting earlier and more intensive moulting. Other variations, namely in betaines and choline-containing compounds, were suggested to relate with osmoregulation and detoxification mechanisms. Ni also had a marked effect on several nucleotides (increased upon exposure) and a moderate impact on lipids (decreased upon exposure). Overall, this study has provided new information on the Ni-induced metabolic adaptations of the P. pruinosus isopod, paving the way for improved mechanistic understanding of how these model organisms handle soil contamination.Significance: This study provided, for the first time to our knowledge, a detailed picture of the NMR-detectable metabolome of terrestrial isopods and of its fluctuations in time and upon exposure to the contaminant metal Nickel. Several time-and dose-dependent changes were highlighted, providing mechanistic insight into how these important model organisms handle Ni contamination.

Unravelling the molecular mechanisms of nickel in woodlice.

“…N-acetyltransferase necessary for the incorporation of acetyl coenzyme A specific for the formation of acetylcholine, the substrate to be used by AChE) all appearing downregulated up to 11-fold. Another downregulated neuro-mechanism in the present study was the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors (Kuffler and Edwards, 1958), which is in line with a previous metabolomics study performed for the same species in the same conditions (Ferreira et al, 2016).…”

“…Accumulation and trafficking of Ni into 'B' cells may occur through a co-transport and since the mechanism of metal uptake is unclear, one should not disregard a potential detoxification role by 'B' hepatopancreas cells through a daily cycle of accumulation and release of carbohydrates and lipids into the midgut lumen (Hames and Hopkin 1991). The co-transport of Ni may also occur during moult as it requires the accumulation of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins already identified in previous biochemical (Ferreira et al, 2015) and metabolomic studies (Ferreira et al, 2016).…”

“…Nevertheless, the heavy metal survey and geochemical database for European soils (Lado et al, 2008) showed that natural occurring Ni levels could range up to 2,565 mg/kg in soil. It is thus paramount to evaluate the impact of elevated Ni levels on terrestrial ecosystems especially using transcriptomic data, to support the already existing data for higher organisational levels (Ferreira et al, 2015;Ferreira et al, 2016).…”

Untargeted Metabolomics Reveals a Complex Impact on Different Metabolic Pathways in Scallop Mimachlamys varia (Linnaeus, 1758) after Short-Term Exposure to Copper at Environmental Dose

“…The hypothesis was that detoxification of contaminants may interfere with normal copper metabolism in the blue crab and may lead to a decrease in the synthesis of haemocyanin [49]. As branched chain amino acids like leucine are involved in haemocyanin synthesis and transportation [50], the increased level of leucine found in the present study may be linked to a decrease of the respiratory protein upon copper exposure. This trend was observed by Cao and collaborators when studying the combined effect of salinity and copper exposure in oysters [36]: An increased level of leucine was observed in 15 g/kg seawater plus Cu compared with 10 g/kg plus Cu waters.…”

How Far Can Pesticides Spread? A Case Study on No-Tillage Farming Systems and Surrounding Forest Patches

“…Fast ow reduces the time for adsorption (non-instantaneous process) of GLY with the soil matrix to be in equilibrium 74 . This soil contamination poses a risk not only to food quality and human health (since these compounds have been identi ed as endocrine disruptors) but also to ecological processes for ecosystem services maintenance [76][77][78][79] . The presence of GLY and AMPA in soil may promote toxicity to key species for biodiversity conservation 80 , which are fundamental for maintaining the interactions that ensure environmental services.…”