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Biology (Basel)
2021 Feb 01;102:. doi: 10.3390/biology10020103.
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Gene Expression Changes after Parental Exposure to Metals in the Sea Urchin Affect Timing of Genetic Programme of Embryo Development.
Masullo T
,
Biondo G
,
Natale MD
,
Tagliavia M
,
Bennici CD
,
Musco M
,
Ragusa MA
,
Costa S
,
Cuttitta A
,
Nicosia A
.
Abstract
It is widely accepted that phenotypic traits can be modulated at the epigenetic level so that some conditions can affect the progeny of exposed individuals. To assess if the exposure of adult animals could result in effects on the offspring, the Mediterranean sea urchin and its well-characterized gene regulatory networks (GRNs) was chosen as a model. Adult animals were exposed to known concentrations of zinc and cadmium (both individually and in combination) for 10 days, and the resulting embryos were followed during the development. The oxidative stress occurring in parental gonads, embryo phenotypes and mortality, and the expression level of a set of selected genes, including members of the skeletogenic and endodermal GRNs, were evaluated. Increased oxidative stress at F0, high rates of developmental aberration with impaired gastrulation, in association to deregulation of genes involved in skeletogenesis (dri, hex, sm50, p16, p19, msp130), endodermal specification (foxa, hox11/13b, wnt8) and epigenetic regulation (kat2A, hdac1, ehmt2, phf8 and UBE2a) occurred either at 24 or 48 hpf. Results strongly indicate that exposure to environmental pollutants can affect not only directly challenged animals but also their progeny (at least F1), influencing optimal timing of genetic programme of embryo development, resulting in an overall impairment of developmental success.
Figure 1. Redox response system of P. lividus reproductive tissues (testis and ovary) after exposures to high (H), low (L) doses of Cd, Zn or a mix of both metals, as reported in Table 1. (A) Total ROS amount; (B) catalase activity; (C) relative HSP70 protein amount; (D) relative HSP60 protein amount; (E) relative HSP90 protein amount. Bars represent the mean values from the three different experiments ± SD. Statistical significance among testis and ovary results is shown as asterisks (*: p < 0.05; **: p < 0.01; ***: p < 0.001). Letters denote statistical significance of treated specimens vs. controls (b: p < 0.01; a: p < 0.001).
Figure 2. Embryo morphological abnormalities at 24 and 48 hpf and percentages in response to the different treatments (Cd, Zn and Mix of them) experienced by parentals. Data corresponding to embryos from means of three experiments are shown; SD were lower than 5%. L: low concentration; H: high concentration; Ab: abnormal.
Figure 3. Parental exposures to low doses of Zn and metal mixture (as defined in Table 1) induce alterations in the mRNA expression of development and epigenetic related genes at 24 hpf. RT-qPCR results showing the mRNA levels of indicated genes in P. lividus offspring, with respect to 18S at 24 hpf. Bars represent mean ± SD. Values were considered statistically significant at p less than 0.05 (*).
Figure 4. Parental exposures to low doses of Zn and metal mixture (as defined in Table 1) induce alterations in the mRNA expression of development and epigenetic related genes at 48 hpf. RT-qPCR results showing the mRNA levels of indicated genes in P. lividus offspring, with respect to 18S at 48 hpf. Bars represent mean ± SD. Values were considered statistically significant at p less than 0.05 (*).
