Publication Date:
2024-03-15
Description:
Plastic pollution and changes in oceanic pH are both pressing environmental issues. Little emphasis, however, has been placed on the influence of sex and gametogenesis stage when investigating the effects of such stressors. Here, we examined histology and molecular biomarkers of blue mussels Mytilus edulis exposed for 7 days to a pH 7.7 scenario (− 0.4 units) in combination with environmentally relevant concentrations (0, 0.5 and 50 µg/L) of the endocrine disrupting plasticiser di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP). Through a factorial design, we investigated the gametogenesis cycle and sex-related expression of genes involved in pH homeostasis, stress response and oestrogen receptor-like pathways after the exposure to the two environmental stressors. As expected, we found sex-related differences in the proportion of developing, mature and spawning gonads in histological sections. Male gonads also showed higher levels of the acid–base regulator CA2, but females had a higher expression of stress response-related genes (i.e. sod, cat, hsp70). We found a significant effect of DEHP on stress response-related gene expression that was dependent on the gametogenesis stage, but there was only a trend towards downregulation of CA2 in response to pH 7.7. In addition, differences in gene expression between males and females were most pronounced in experimental conditions containing DEHP and/or acidified pH but never the control, indicating that it is important to consider sex and gametogenesis stage when studying the response of mussels to diverse stressors.
Keywords:
Alkalinity, total; Alkalinity, total, standard deviation; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Benthic animals; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Bottles or small containers/Aquaria (〈20 L); Calcite saturation state; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbon, inorganic, dissolved; Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Figure; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Gene expression; Gene expression (incl. proteomics); Laboratory experiment; Laboratory strains; Mollusca; Mytilus edulis; Not applicable; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Organic toxins; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); pH; pH, standard deviation; Salinity; Salinity, standard deviation; Sex; Single species; Species, unique identification; Species, unique identification (Semantic URI); Species, unique identification (URI); Stage; Temperature, water; Temperature, water, standard deviation; Treatment; Type
Type:
Dataset
Format:
text/tab-separated-values, 10995 data points
