Project description:Transcriptional profiling of mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) digestive gland tissue comparing control tissue with tissue obtained from animals exposed for four days to sublethal amounts of Nickel, Chlorpyrifos, or their mixture. Background: Mixtures of chemicals present in aquatic environments may elicit toxicity due to additive or synergistic effects among the constituents or ‘vice versa’ the adverse outcome may be reduced by antagonistic interactions. Deviations from additivity should be explained either by the perturbations of toxicokinetic parameters and/or chemical toxicodynamics. We addressed this important question in marine mussels exposed subchronically to a binary mixture made of two wide-spread pollutants: the heavy metal Nickel and the organic phosphorus pesticide Chlorpyrifos. To this aim, we proposed the use of a systems approach based on the evaluation and integration of different disciplines, i.e. high throughput gene expression profiling, functional genomics, stress biomakers and toxicokinetics. Results: Stress biomarkers showed statistically significant antagonistic deviations from the reference model systems to predict mixture toxicity which are based either on simple additivity or non-interaction. While toxicokinetic modeling did not explain mixture interactions, gene expression profiling and further functional genomics analysis provided clues that the decrement of toxicity may arise from the development of specific toxicodynamics. Multivariate statistics of microarray and quantitative PCR data showed two separate patterns for the single chemicals and a composite complex profile for the mixture suggesting the occurrence of interactive molecular responses. The latter signature accounted for differentially expressed genes whose relative expression values were either in trend or in contrast with those found due to single substance treatments and a relevant set of sequences which were exclusive of the mixture gene list. Conclusion: The functional genomics assessment fits with biological data to indicate the occurrence of different toxicodynamic events and ‘in general’ a decrease of toxicity, driven by the mitigation or even abolishment of lysosomal responses such as the lipid metabolic disorder observed exclusively in single chemical-exposed samples. Furthermore, our results emphasized the importance of the application of mechanistic approaches and the power of systems assessment to study toxicological responses in ecological relevant organisms.

Project description:Background. Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) responsible for Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP) represent a major threat for human consumers of shellfish. The biotoxin Okadaic Acid (OA), a well-known phosphatase inhibitor and tumor promoter, is the primary cause of acute DSP intoxications. Although several studies have described the molecular effects of high OA concentrations on sentinel organisms (e.g., bivalve molluscs), the effect of prolonged exposures to low (sublethal) OA concentrations is still unknown. In order to fill this gap, this work combines Next-Generation sequencing and custom-made microarray technologies to develop an unbiased characterization of the transcriptomic response of mussels during early stages of a DSP bloom. Methods. Mussel specimens were exposed to a HAB episode simulating an early stage DSP bloom (200 cells/L of the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum lima for 24 h). The unbiased characterization of the transcriptomic responses triggered by OA was carried out using two complementary methods of cDNA library preparation: normalized and Suppression Subtractive Hybridization (SSH). Libraries were sequenced and read datasets were mapped to Gene Ontology and KEGG databases. A custom-made oligonucleotide microarray was developed based on these data, completing the expression analysis of digestive gland and gill tissues. Results. Our findings show that exposure to sublethal concentrations of OA is enough to induce gene expression modifications in the mussel Mytilus. Transcriptomic analyses revealed an increase in proteasomal activity, molecular transport, cell cycle regulation, energy production and immune activity in mussels. Oppositely, a number of transcripts hypothesized to be responsive to OA (notably the Serine/Threonine phosphatases PP1 and PP2A) failed to show substantial modifications. Both digestive gland and gill tissues responded similarly to OA, although expression modifications were more dramatic in the former, supporting the choice of this tissue for future biomonitoring studies. Discussion. Exposure to OA concentrations within legal limits for safe consumption of shellfish is enough to disrupt important cellular processes in mussels, eliciting sharp transcriptional changes as a result. By combining the study of cDNA libraries and a custom-made OA-specific microarray, our work provides a comprehensive characterization of the OA-specific transcriptome, improving the accuracy of the analysis of expresion profiles compared to single-replicated RNA-seq methods. The combination of our data with related studies helps understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying molecular responses to DSP episodes in marine organisms, providing useful information to develop a new generation of tools for the monitoring of OA pollution.

Project description:Transcriptional profiling of mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) digestive gland tissue comparing control tissue with tissue obtained from animals exposed for four days to sublethal amounts of Nickel, Chlorpyrifos, or their mixture. Background: Mixtures of chemicals present in aquatic environments may elicit toxicity due to additive or synergistic effects among the constituents or ‘vice versa’ the adverse outcome may be reduced by antagonistic interactions. Deviations from additivity should be explained either by the perturbations of toxicokinetic parameters and/or chemical toxicodynamics. We addressed this important question in marine mussels exposed subchronically to a binary mixture made of two wide-spread pollutants: the heavy metal Nickel and the organic phosphorus pesticide Chlorpyrifos. To this aim, we proposed the use of a systems approach based on the evaluation and integration of different disciplines, i.e. high throughput gene expression profiling, functional genomics, stress biomakers and toxicokinetics. Results: Stress biomarkers showed statistically significant antagonistic deviations from the reference model systems to predict mixture toxicity which are based either on simple additivity or non-interaction. While toxicokinetic modeling did not explain mixture interactions, gene expression profiling and further functional genomics analysis provided clues that the decrement of toxicity may arise from the development of specific toxicodynamics. Multivariate statistics of microarray and quantitative PCR data showed two separate patterns for the single chemicals and a composite complex profile for the mixture suggesting the occurrence of interactive molecular responses. The latter signature accounted for differentially expressed genes whose relative expression values were either in trend or in contrast with those found due to single substance treatments and a relevant set of sequences which were exclusive of the mixture gene list. Conclusion: The functional genomics assessment fits with biological data to indicate the occurrence of different toxicodynamic events and ‘in general’ a decrease of toxicity, driven by the mitigation or even abolishment of lysosomal responses such as the lipid metabolic disorder observed exclusively in single chemical-exposed samples. Furthermore, our results emphasized the importance of the application of mechanistic approaches and the power of systems assessment to study toxicological responses in ecological relevant organisms. Mussel MytArray 1.0 (Platform GPL1799)-based arrays: Three-condition experiment. Dual color competitive hybridizations. Common reference (vehicle treated animals, 0.02% Dimethyl sulfoxide); Pools of six animals. Biological replicates: 4 controls, 4 Nickel, 4 Chlorpyrifos. One replicate per array. Mussel MytArray 1.1 (Platform GPL10269)-based arrays: Four-condition experiment. Dual color competitive hybridizations. Common reference (vehicle treated animals, 0.02% Dimethyl sulfoxide); Pools of six animals. Biological replicates: 5 controls, 1 Nickel, 3 Chlorpyrifos, 5 mixture. One replicate per array.

Project description:Transcriptional profiling of natural population of mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) -digestive gland tissue- comparing female individuals sampled in the Bizerta Lagoon, Tunisia, across May 2007 - April 2008. Background: Seasonal environmental changes may affect the physiology of Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lam.), an intertidal filter-feeder bivalve occurring commonly in Mediterranean and Atlantic coastal areas. We investigated seasonal variations in relative transcript abundance of the digestive gland and the mantle (gonads) of males and females. To identify gene expression trends, we used a medium-density cDNA microarray (1.7 K probes) in dual-color competitive hybridization analyses. Results: Hierarchical clustering of digestive gland microarray data showed two main branches, distinguishing profiles associated with the M-bM-^@M-^\hotM-bM-^@M-^] months (MayM-bM-^@M-^SAugust) from the other months. Genes involved in chitin metabolism, associated with mussel nutrition and digestion, showed higher expression during summer. Moreover, we found different gene expression patterns in the digestive glands of males and females during the four stages of mussel gonadal development. Microarray data from gonadal transcripts also displayed clear patterns during the different developmental phases with peak relative mRNA abundance at the ripe phase (stage III) for both sexes. Conclusion: These data showed a clear temporal pattern in gene expression profiles of mussels sampled over an annual cycle. Physiological response to thermal variation, food availability, and reproductive status across months may contribute to variation in gene expression. Loop design: Female individuals from 12 different months across one year (May 2007 to April 2008). Dual color competitive hybridizations (month n vs month n+1) including dye swap. Single individuals. Three (May 2007 to December 2007) or four biological replicates (January 2008 to April 2008 ). One replicate per array.

Dataset Information

Simple Diffusion as the Mechanism of Okadaic Acid Uptake by the Mussel Digestive Gland.

Publications

Simple Diffusion as the Mechanism of Okadaic Acid Uptake by the Mussel Digestive Gland.

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