Abstract
Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is a common environmental disrupting chemical that can cause endocrine disorders in organisms. However, the continued interference effects of BaP on multi-generation fish needs further research. In this study, we performed different periods (G1F1-3, G2F2-3, G3F3) of BaP exposure on marine medaka. We determined the embryo toxicity, and analyzed relative reproductive genes (ERα, cyp19a and vtg1) to predict the sexual differentiation of marine medaka. The results showed that high concentrations of BaP (200 μg·L−1) significantly delayed the hatching time of embryos. Moreover, medium/high concentrations of BaP (20 and 200 μg·L−1) prolonged the sexual maturity time of marine medaka. The relative gene expression of ERα, cyp19a and vtg1 were measured at 5 dpf of embryos. We found that BaP had significantly inhibited the expression of the genes related to female fish development. Consequently, there were more males in the offspring sex ratio at BaP exposure. Overall, BaP can cause embryonic toxicity and abnormal sexual differentiation, while the expression of related reproductive genes can effectively indicate the sex ratio.
Highlights
Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is one of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that can be found in oil, coal, fuel and many organic materials with incomplete combustion [1]
Hatching Time in the Offspring of Multigeneration Marine Medaka Exposed to BaP
It is worth noting that in the G2F3 and G3F3 groups, embryos died out during hatching at 200 μg·L−1, which may have been due to the long-term exposure to BaP, and a large amount of BaP accumulated in the embryo that eventually led to the death of the embryo
Summary
Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is one of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that can be found in oil, coal, fuel and many organic materials with incomplete combustion [1]. Exposure to PAHs may cause organ deformities, sex changes, decreased reproductive capacity, abnormal reproductive behavior, disorders in physiological and metabolic processes, and abnormal gene expression [2,3,4,5]. BaP is still widely distributed and can be detected in rivers [7], sea [8], air [9] and various organisms [10]. Its interference effects on organisms are of great concern. BaP can influence aquatic organisms as an endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC) [11]. Even if the concentration of BaP in the aquatic environment is very low, fish are inevitably exposed to BaP throughout their life cycle, which may disturb the normal reproductive conditions [12]
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