Abstract
We used proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR) to evaluate metabolic impacts of environmentally relevant crude oil and Corexit exposures on the physiology of hatchling loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta). Sample extraction and data acquisition methods for very small volume whole blood samples and sources of variation between individual hatchlings were assessed. Sixteen unclotted, whole blood samples were obtained from 7-day-old hatchlings after a 4-day cutaneous exposure to either control seawater, crude oil, Corexit 9500A or a combination of crude oil and Corexit 9500A. After extraction, one- and two-dimensional 1H-NMR spectra of the samples were obtained, and 17 metabolites were identified and confirmed in the whole blood spectra. Variation among samples due to the concentrations of metabolites 3-hydroxybutyrate, lactate, trimethylamine oxide and propylene glycol did not statistically correlate with treatment group. However, the characterization of the hatchling loggerhead whole blood metabolome provides a foundation for future metabolomic research with sea turtles and a basis for the study of tissues from exposed hatchling sea turtles.
Highlights
Sea turtles are charismatic species and extremely important to the balance of marine trophic webs [1,2]
We describe an evaluation of metabolic impacts of exposure of crude oil and a mixture used in oil spill mitigation, Corexit, on hatchling sea turtles using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) technology
The hatchlings were assigned to a 4-day cutaneous exposure in individual glass tubs in one of four exposure groups at concentrations compatible with those observed in Deepwater Horizon oil spill: Crude Oil (Gulf Coast—Mixed Crude Oil Sweet, CAS no. 8002-05-9, 0.833 ml l−1 aged seawater), Corexit (Corexit 9500A, 0.083 ml l−1 aged seawater), Combined
Summary
Sea turtles are charismatic species and extremely important to the balance of marine trophic webs [1,2]. Work with birds demonstrated that the exposure of eggs and newly hatched chicks to very low doses of crude oil has a significant negative impact on the survivability of eggs and newly hatched chicks [14,15,16]. This is a potential concern for sea turtles. Our understanding of the pathogenesis of conditions attributed to crude oil exposure in young sea turtles remains incomplete [17,18,19,20,21,22]. Even less is known about the impacts of compounds used to mitigate oil spills on sea turtle metabolism
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