title: Triphenyltin induces imposex in Nucella lapillus through an aphallic route.
abstract: Triphenyltin (TPT) was used until recently as a biocide in antifouling systems and nowadays is still applied as an agriculture pesticide in some countries. This compound is known to cause imposex (the imposition of male characters in females of gastropod molluscs) in a very limited number of species, when compared with tributyltin (TBT), the universally recognized imposex-causing agent. In this study, we tested if TPT could induce imposex in females of the dog-whelk Nucella lapillus. Experimental groups of 40 females were injected with a volume of 2μL/g of soft tissue wet weight (ww) of one of the following treatments, using DMSO as a solvent carrier: DMSO (solvent control); 1μg/g ww of TBT (positive control); 0.2, 1 and 5μg/g ww of TPT and a non-injected group (negative control). Concentrations were confirmed in the organism tissues by means of chemical analyses of a pool of 10 specimens at T0 and then after the imposex analysis at T56days. After 8-week trial, results pointed out statistically significant differences between treatments, with both TPT and TBT positively inducing imposex. However, imposex development in TPT-injected females differed from that of TBT, since females that developed imposex presented an aphallic condition (no penis development) while the TBT-treated females developed standard imposex (with penis formation). These results suggest that TPT and TBT act differently in the sequential process of female masculinization, casting new insights about the hypothetical pathways underlying imposex development.
authors.affiliation: Biology Department and CESAM, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal. Electronic address: flaranjeiro@ua.pt.
authors.forename: Filipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Laranjeiro
authors.affiliation: Biology Department and CESAM, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal; Department of Animal Biology and Ecology, University of Vigo, E-36310 Vigo, Spain.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Marín
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barros
authors.affiliation: Biology Department and CESAM, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Galante-Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Grupo Química Analítica Aplicada (QANAP), Instituto Universitario de Medio Ambiente (IUMA), Centro de Investigacións Científicas Avanzadas (CICA), Departamento de Química Analítica, Universidade da Coruña, Campus de A Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moscoso-Pérez
authors.affiliation: Grupo Química Analítica Aplicada (QANAP), Instituto Universitario de Medio Ambiente (IUMA), Centro de Investigacións Científicas Avanzadas (CICA), Departamento de Química Analítica, Universidade da Coruña, Campus de A Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain.
authors.forename: Verónica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fernández-González
authors.affiliation: Biology Department and CESAM, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barroso
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D049851:Gastropoda / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D009947:Organotin Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D010413:Penis / Q000187:drug effects; D014220:Trialkyltin Compounds / Q000633:toxicity; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D009947:Organotin Compounds; D014220:Trialkyltin Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C011559:tributyltin; C030665:triphenyltin
keywords: Dumpton syndrome; Endocrine disruption; PPARγ; RXR; TPT