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Transcriptome profile analysis reveals specific signatures of pollutants in Atlantic eels

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Abstract

Identifying specific effects of contaminants in a multi-stress field context remain a challenge in ecotoxicology. In this context, “omics” technologies, by allowing the simultaneous measurement of numerous biological endpoints, could help unravel the in situ toxicity of contaminants. In this study, wild Atlantic eels were sampled in 8 sites presenting a broad contamination gradient in France and Canada. The global hepatic transcriptome of animals was determined by RNA-Seq. In parallel, the contamination level of fish to 8 metals and 25 organic pollutants was determined. Factor analysis for multiple testing was used to identify genes that are most likely to be related to a single factor. Among the variables analyzed, arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lindane (γ-HCH) and the hepato-somatic index (HSI) were found to be the main factors affecting eel’s transcriptome. Genes associated with As exposure were involved in the mechanisms that have been described during As vasculotoxicity in mammals. Genes correlated with Cd were involved in cell cycle and energy metabolism. For γ-HCH, genes were involved in lipolysis and cell growth. Genes associated with HSI were involved in protein, lipid and iron metabolisms. Our study proposes specific gene signatures of pollutants and their impacts in fish exposed to multi-stress conditions.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge the contributions of our support staff, without whom this study could not have been completed. First, we would like to thank all the personnel of INRS-ETE and UMR EPOC (University of Bordeaux) who participated in the field sampling, and also Patrick Girard and Pierre Elie for veterinary expertise. We would thank Charline Gesset for technical assistance. This work was supported by the ANR-CRSNG IMMORTEEL (ANR-10-INTB-1704) and by Aquitaine region (GAGILAU and MICANG projects). Lucie Baillon was supported by a collaborative doctoral fellowship between the University of Bordeaux (France) and the University of Laval (Quebec, Canada).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Univ. Bordeaux, UMR EPOC CNRS 5805, 33400, Talence, France

    Lucie Baillon, Fabien Pierron, Laurent Peluhet, Pierre Labadie, Hélène Budzinski & Magalie Baudrimont

  2. CQFD team, INRIA Bordeaux Sud-Ouest, Talence, France

    Raphaël Coudret & Jérôme Sarraco

  3. Département de biologie, Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, G1V 0A6, Quebec, QC, Canada

    Eric Normendeau & Louis Bernatchez

  4. Centre Eau Terre Environnement, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, 490 de la Couronne, Quebec, QC, G1K 9A9, Canada

    Antoine Caron & Patrice Couture

  5. Université de Bretagne Sud, LMBA, UMR CNRS 6205, 56000, Vannes, France

    Gilles Durrieu

  6. IRSTEA, 50 avenue de Verdun-Gazinet, 33612, Cestas, France

    Pierre Elie

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  1. Lucie Baillon
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  2. Fabien Pierron
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Correspondence to Fabien Pierron.

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Baillon, L., Pierron, F., Coudret, R. et al. Transcriptome profile analysis reveals specific signatures of pollutants in Atlantic eels. Ecotoxicology 24, 71–84 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-014-1356-x

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