Project description:Rainbow darter (Etheostoma caeruleum) are a small benthic fish found in North America. This species is sensitive to sewage effluent in the environment, showing the presence of intersex in up to 80% of males in near-field areas in the Grand River, ON. To learn more about the molecular events associated with intersex, we developed a customized oligonucleotide microarray (4x180K) with next generation sequencing (454 Roche) to characterize molecular responses in the gonad. Transcriptomics was performed on both males and females from both a reference site and a polluted site. Males with and without intersex from the polluted site were compared to the control males. Rainbow darter were sampled from from the Grand River in May 2011. Fish were selected according to the location, gonad maturity, and intersex index. Reference fish were taken from the upstream to the urban area; exposed fish were taken from downstream of from Kitchener MWWE treatment plant.
Project description:Investigate long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) expression characteristics in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of Xinjiang Kazakh people with essential hypertension.
Project description:Effluents from sewage treatment plants contain a mixture of micropollutants with the potential of harming aquatic organisms. Thus, addition of advanced treatment techniques to complement existing conventional methods has been proposed. Some of the advanced techniques could, however, potentially produce additional compounds affecting exposed organisms by unknown modes of action. In the present study the aim was to improve our understanding of how exposure to different sewage effluents affects fish. This was achieved by explorative microarray and quantitative PCR analyses of hepatic gene expression, as well as relative organ sizes of rainbow trout exposed to different sewage effluents (conventionally treated, granular activated carbon, ozonation (5 or 15 mg/L), 5 mg/L ozone plus a moving bed biofilm reactor, or UV-light treatment in combination with hydrogen peroxide). Exposure to the conventionally treated effluent caused a significant increase in liver and heart somatic indexes, an effect removed by all other treatments. Genes connected to xenobiotic metabolism, including cytochrome p450 1A, were differentially expressed in the fish exposed to the conventionally treated effluents, though only effluent treatment with granular activated carbon or ozone at 15 mg/L completely removed this response. The mRNA expression of heat shock protein 70 kDa was induced in all three groups exposed to ozone-treated effluents, suggesting some form of added stress in these fish. The induction of estrogen-responsive genes in the fish exposed to the conventionally treated effluent was effectively reduced by all investigated advanced treatment technologies, although the moving bed biofilm reactor was least efficient. Taken together, granular activated carbon showed the highest potential of reducing responses in fish induced by exposure to sewage effluents.