Effects of Mercury on Oxidative Stress and Gene Expression of Potential Biomarkers in Larvae of the Chinese Rare Minnow Gobiocypris Rarus

• Published in: Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology Vol. 67; no. 2; pp. 245 - 251
• Main Authors: Li, Zhi-Hua, Chen, Lu, Wu, Yan-Hua, Li, Ping, Li, Yun-Feng, Ni, Zhao-Hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer-Verlag 01.08.2014; Springer US; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acids; adenosinetriphosphatase; Agnatha. Pisces; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Antioxidants; Applied ecology; aquatic environment; aquatic food webs; Aquatic life; Biodiversity; Bioengineering; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers; Biomarkers - metabolism; catalase; cortisol receptors; Cyprinidae - physiology; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental monitoring; Enzymes; Exposure; Fish; Fisheries; Fishing; Freshwater; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene expression; Gene Expression - drug effects; Genes; glutathione peroxidase; Gobiocypris rarus; Growth hormones; heat stress; insulin-like growth factor I; Insulin-like growth factors; Laboratories; laboratory experimentation; Larvae; malondialdehyde; mercuric chloride; Mercury; Mercury (metal); Mercury - toxicity; metallothionein; minnows; monitoring; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Oxidative Stress; Performance evaluation; Physiology; Pollutants; Pollution; Polymerase chain reaction; principal component analysis; Principal components analysis; prolactin; Proteins; Sodium-Potassium-Exchanging ATPase - metabolism; Soil Science & Conservation; somatotropin; Stresses; Studies; superoxide dismutase; toxicity; Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity; Water pollution; Water quality; Asia; China; Mercuric Chloride; Polymerase Chain Reaction Plate; Oxidative Stress Index; Antioxidant Response; Rare Minnow; Freshwater environment; Oxidative stress; Vertebrata; Pollution; Larva; Toxicity; Pisces; Biological marker; Gene expression; Mercury
• ISSN: 0090-4341; 1432-0703
• DOI: 10.1007/s00244-014-0034-6

Mercury levels have increased in aquatic food webs throughout the world and can be found at toxic levels in some biota. However, the molecular mechanisms and effects of mercuric chloride (Hg²⁺) remain poorly understood. In the present study, antioxidant parameters (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and malondialdehyde)—as well as a series of gene expressions, including cortisol receptor (cr), Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase (aptase), and prolactin (prl) genes involved in ion-regulatory process, insulin-like growth factor I (igf1) and growth hormone (gh) related to growth rate, as well as heat shock protein70 (hsp70) and metallothionein (mt) used as physiological stress identification—were measured in whole body of Chinese rare minnow larvae (Gobiocypris rarus) after exposure to Hg²⁺ (0, 0.1, and 0.3 mg/L) for 4 days. Results show that oxidative stress was generated in fish exposed to Hg²⁺ and that the transcription levels of cr, atpase, gh, hsp70, and mt genes increased in a dose-dependent manner, but expression levels of prl and igf1 genes were showed to be decreased in the treated groups. Based on principal component analysis, the correlation between gh and igf1 genes and cr and prl genes was negative. In conclusion, exposure to Hg²⁺ could alter multiple physiological and molecular indices in fish; however, before those parameters are used as special biomarkers for monitoring Hg²⁺ in aquatic environment, more detailed experiments in laboratory must be performed in the future.