title: Transgenerational Adaptation to Pollution Changes Energy Allocation in Populations of Nematodes.
abstract: Assessing the evolutionary responses of long-term exposed populations requires multigeneration ecotoxicity tests. However, the analysis of the data from these tests is not straightforward. Mechanistic models allow the in-depth analysis of the variation of physiological traits over many generations, by quantifying the trend of the physiological and toxicological parameters of the model. In the present study, a bioenergetic mechanistic model has been used to assess the evolution of two populations of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans in control conditions or exposed to uranium. This evolutionary pressure resulted in a brood size reduction of 60%. We showed an adaptation of individuals of both populations to experimental conditions (increase of maximal length, decrease of growth rate, decrease of brood size, and decrease of the elimination rate). In addition, differential evolution was also highlighted between the two populations once the maternal effects had been diminished after several generations. Thus, individuals that were greater in maximal length, but with apparently a greater sensitivity to uranium were selected in the uranium population. In this study, we showed that this bioenergetics mechanistic modeling approach provided a precise, certain, and powerful analysis of the life strategy of C. elegans populations exposed to heavy metals resulting in an evolutionary pressure across successive generations.
authors.affiliation: Unité Modèles pour l'Écotoxicologie et la Toxicologie (METO), Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques (INERIS) , BP2, F-60550 Verneuil en Halatte, France.|Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PRP-ENV, SERIS, Laboratoire d'ÉCOtoxicologie des radionucléides (LECO) , BP3, F-13115 Cadarache, France.
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Goussen
authors.affiliation: Unité Modèles pour l'Écotoxicologie et la Toxicologie (METO), Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques (INERIS) , BP2, F-60550 Verneuil en Halatte, France.
authors.forename: Alexandre R R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Péry
authors.affiliation: Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PRP-ENV, SERIS, Laboratoire d'ÉCOtoxicologie des radionucléides (LECO) , BP3, F-13115 Cadarache, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bonzom
authors.affiliation: Unité Modèles pour l'Écotoxicologie et la Toxicologie (METO), Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques (INERIS) , BP2, F-60550 Verneuil en Halatte, France.
authors.forename: Rémy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Beaudouin
mesh_terms: D000064:Acclimatization; D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D052284:Clutch Size; D054750:Ecotoxicology / Q000379:methods*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D014501:Uranium / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D014501:Uranium