First REP-LECOTOX Workshop—ecotoxicogenomics: the challenge of integrating genomics/proteomics/metabolomics into aquatic and terrestrial ecotoxicology

Abstract

The Workshop “Ecotoxicogenomics: The challenge of integrating genomics/proteomics/metabolomics into aquatic and terrestrial ecotoxicology” held in Novi Sad, Serbia, at UNSFS, Department of Biology and Ecology, organized as a part of the Project INCO-CT-2006-043559-REP-LECOTOX, brought together experts in the field of genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and bioinformatics. Five plenary lectures and seven lectures on the specific themes, as well as discussion afterwards, gave to participants a comprehensive insight into the possibility of application of omic technologies in the field of ecotoxicology. The workshop was attended by approximately 50 participants mostly from Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia (Fig. 1). The Workshop program was prepared by the Scientific Committee: J.K. Chipman, S. Scholz, K. Hilscherova, and R. Kovacevic. In the first keynote lecture “Overview of ecotoxicogenomics,” Prof. J.K. Chipman (School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, UK) stressed that a major advantage of functional genomics technologies, which enable measurements of thousands of transcripts, proteins, and metabolites, is their “open” nature that does not require prior assumptions about the choice of biomarkers, thus, being particularly valuable to assess mechanisms of action and the effect of mixtures of chemicals where unknown biological targets may be involved. He also pointed out that attention needs to be given to distinguishing between compensatory, adaptive, and toxic responses and to discovering patterns of change that are diagnostic and predictive. Many interesting examples of “omic” responses were shown together with discussion and proposals for use of such data in ecological monitoring and risk assessment. In the second keynote lecture “Environmental transcriptomics—predicting adverse and long-term effects,” Dr. Stefan Scholz (Department for Cell Toxicology, UFZ, Leipzig, Germany) showed that information obtained by whole genome analysis can be useful if they are linked to appropriate applications, such as the identification of mechanisms of action or biomarkers for biomonitoring and the prediction of (long-term) adverse effects. His presentation highlighted two examples demonstrating applications in ecotoxicology and/or regulatory testing: the first one was the application of gene expression as a marker for long-term adverse effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals, while the second highlighted example described the potential application of gene expression markers for the prediction of chronic fish toxicity by extending the fish embryo test from acute to chronic toxicity test. In the third keynote lecture “Environmental proteomics,” Dr. Thomas Knigge (Laboratoire d’Ecotoxicologie— Milieux Aquatiques, Universite du Havre, France) pointed out that the proteomic profile represents a link between effects at the molecular and whole organism level, since proteins are the first functional level directly or indirectly affected by toxicants. Showing the results of several different studies using gel and non-gel-based proteomics, he illustrated some of the practical and conceptual difficulties when applying proteomics to ecotoxicological studies. He stressed the needs for sophisticated bioinformatics and Environ Sci Pollut Res (2009) 16 (Suppl 1):S130–S131 DOI 10.1007/s11356-009-0128-2