PUBLICATION

Serial analysis of gene expression in the skeletal muscles of zebrafish fed with a methylmercury-contaminated diet

Authors
Cambier, S., Gonzalez, P., Durrieu, G., Maury-Brachet, R., Boudou, A., and Bourdineaud, J.P.
ID
ZDB-PUB-100105-29
Date
2010
Source
Environmental science & technology   44(1): 469-475 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • DNA Primers
  • Diet*
  • Down-Regulation/drug effects
  • Food Chain
  • Gene Expression Profiling*
  • Methylmercury Compounds/administration & dosage
  • Methylmercury Compounds/pharmacology*
  • Muscle, Skeletal/metabolism*
  • RNA, Messenger/genetics
  • Up-Regulation/drug effects
  • Zebrafish/genetics*
PubMed
20039754 Full text @ Env. Sci. Tech.
CTD
20039754
Abstract
Mercury (Hg) is a widespread environmental contaminant and its organic form, methylmercury (MeHg), has been known as a potent neurotoxic since the Minamata tragedy. In the Amazonian basin, gold mining leads to MeHg biomagnification all along the food web, culminating in piscivorous fish, ultimately responsible for contamination of human beings through fish consumption. In order to assess the biological impact of dietary MeHg on fish at the genome scale, we contaminated zebrafish with MeHg-contaminated food for 25 days (13.5 mug of Hg/g of food). A serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) was conducted on the skeletal muscle because this tissue does not perform MeHg demethylation, and 19171 SAGE tags were sequenced from the control library versus 22 261 from the MeHg-contaminated library, corresponding to 5280 different transcripts. Among those identified, 60 genes appeared up-regulated and 15 down-regulated by more than 2 times. A net impact of MeHg was noticed on 14 ribosomal protein genes, indicating a perturbation of protein synthesis. Several genes involved in mitochondrial metabolism, the electron transport chain, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) function, detoxification, and general stress responses were differentially regulated, suggesting an onset of oxidative stress and ER stress. Several other genes for which expression varied with MeHg contamination could be clustered in various compartments of the cell's life, such as lipid metabolism, calcium homeostasis, iron metabolism, muscle contraction, and cell cycle regulation. This study reveals the effectiveness of the SAGE approach to acquire a better understanding of the MeHg global effects. Furthermore, this is the first time that the SAGE was used to characterize the effect of a toxicant at the genome scale in an aquatic organism.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping