Chronic trichlorfon stress induces differential transcriptome expression and interferes with multifunctional pathways in the brain of Rana chensinensis

Abstract

Trichlorfon is widely used to control pest insects and various parasitic infestations in agriculture, aquaculture and human medicine. However, the long-term widespread use and overuse of trichlorfon poses risks to public and environmental health. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the interference of trichlorfon on gene transcription patterns in the brain of Rana chensinensis with 4 weeks treatment under control conditions and 0.1 mg/L exposure. In total, 102,013 unigenes were obtained from the brain tissue of R. chensinensis, and 874 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. Functional annotation indicated that out of 118,643 unigenes, 45,600 (44.7%) were annotated in the Nr, Nt, the Swiss-Prot, KEGG, COG, and GO databases. The differential expression patterns of 4 genes associated with neural activity were selected and validated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The results revealed that except for the canonical cholinesterase-based mechanism, trichlorfon could act on other receptors and alter certain types of neuronal ion channels as the major target sites. All of these effects ultimately cause disorders of multifunctional pathways and other neurotransmitter pathways in the host. The results further our understanding of the mechanisms underlying nontarget effects of organophosphate insecticides (OPs) through multitargets studies.