title: Mechanisms of phenanthrene toxicity in the soil invertebrate, Enchytraeus crypticus.
abstract: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) continue to cause environmental challenges as a result of their release into the environment by a great variety of anthropogenic activities and their accumulation in soils. Studies were conducted on the toxicological effect of the model PAH phenanthrene using the soil invertebrate model Enchytraeus crypticus at the individual, tissue, and molecular levels. Animals were exposed for 2 d and 21 d to phenanthrene concentrations corresponding to the (previously estimated) 3-wk effective concentration, 10% (EC10) and EC50 for effects on reproduction. Gene expression profiling did not reveal a typical phenanthrene-induced biotransformation signature, as it usually does in arthropods and vertebrates. Instead, after 2 d of exposure, only general metabolic processes were affected, such as translation and adenosine triphosphate synthesis-coupled electron transport. Histological sections of tissues of 2-d exposed animals showed no deviations from control. In contrast, after prolonged exposure of up to 21 d, histopathological effects were found: chloragogenous cells were highly vacuolated and hypertrophic. This was corroborated by differential expression of genes related to immune response and oxidative stress at the transcriptomic level. The data exemplify the complexity and species-specific features of PAH toxicity among soil invertebrate communities, which restricts read-across and extrapolation in the context of soil ecological risk assessment. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:2713-2720. © 2016 SETAC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. dick.roelofs@vu.nl.
authors.forename: Dick
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Roelofs
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Rita C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Bicho
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tjalf E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: de Boer
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Biology and Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Marta P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Castro-Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Kora
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Montagne-Wajer
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Cornelis A M
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: van Gestel
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Amadeu M V M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Nico M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: van Straalen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Mónica J B
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Amorim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D009835:Oligochaeta / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D010616:Phenanthrenes / Q000633:toxicity*; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000187:drug effects; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D018675:Toxicity Tests
chemical_list: D010616:Phenanthrenes; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D012989:Soil Pollutants; C031181:phenanthrene
keywords: Ecotoxicogenomics; Histopathology; Mode of action; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons