Behavioral and genomic impacts of a wastewater effluent on the fathead minnow.
Rivers containing effluents from water treatment plants are complex soups of compounds, ranging from pharmaceuticals to natural hormones. Male fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) were exposed for 3 weeks to effluent waters from the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant in St. Paul, MN. Fish were tested for their competitive nest holding behavior. Changes in vitellogenin were measured and these were correlated to changes in gene expression using a 22,000 gene microarray developed specifically for fathead minnows. Significant changes in gene expression were observed in both liver and testis, which correlate to phenotypic changes of vitellogenin induction and reduced competitive behavior. We also compared by real-time PCR the expression changes in key genes related to steroid biosynthesis and metabolism in fish exposed to the effluent as well as in fish exposed to a model estrogen and a model androgen. While the gene expression signature from effluent-exposed fish shared some elements with estrogen and androgen signatures, overall it was different, underscoring the complexity of compounds present in sewage and their different modes of action.
Garcia-Reyero
Natàlia
N
Department of Physiological Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
Lavelle
Candice M
CM
Escalon
B Lynn
BL
Martinović
Dalma
D
Kroll
Kevin J
KJ
Sorensen
Peter W
PW
Denslow
Nancy D
ND
D000378:Agonistic Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D000818:Animals; D019295:Computational Biology; D003530:Cyprinidae / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D046228:Microarray Analysis; D008910:Minnesota; D009425:Nesting Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013731:Territoriality; D014819:Vitellogenins / Q000378:metabolism; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; D014819:Vitellogenins; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical