Effect of the Hydrocarbons Exposure on the Immune Response in Crassostrea virginica

Edgar Lopez1, Ricardo Gomez2, Gerardo Amador3, Isidro Montelongo3, Nancy Ramirez4 and Clara E Galindo-Sanchez5, (1)Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education at Ensenada, Marine Biotechnology, Ensenada, BJ, Mexico, (2)Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education at Ensenada, Marine biotechnology, Ensenada, BJ, Mexico, (3)Technological University of the Sea of Tamaulipas (UTMART), Aquaculture, La Pesca, Soto La Marina, TM, Mexico, (4)Oceanology Research Institute (IIO), Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC), Ensenada, BJ, Mexico, (5)Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Marine Biotechnology, Ensenada, BJ, Mexico
Abstract:
The negative impact of an oil spill on marine invertebrates varies with location, the magnitude of the spill, the stage of life, and the capacity of organisms to prevent or process contaminants. One way to assess this impact is through the study of the effects of exposure to hydrocarbons on organisms that live throughout the water column and sessile organisms as indicators of the ecosystem health. To have a better understanding of the hydrocarbons effect on the immune response of marine invertebrates, we exposed to the eastern oyster C. virginica to different concentrations of Water-accommodated fractions (WAF) from light oil during 21 days and evaluated the transcriptomic response using RNA-Seq. The oysters were sampled in Morales Laguna (Tamaulipas, Mexico) and exposed to WAF for three weeks. Assembly of reads from the digestive gland (the primary bioaccumulation tissue) and quality control of the assembly, using Trinity and transrate software, generated 50,148 'Genes' and 62,011 transcripts. Database Swissprot/Uniprot and PFAM-A were used for the annotation of proteins. Gene ontology analysis showed that more abundant categories in the biological processes were related to metal ion binding and ATP binding. For molecular function categories, the most abundant were positive regulation of transcription by RNA Polymerase II, cell adhesion, and apoptotic process. Also, the differential expression gene analysis suggested that oyster response to WAF exposure was fast from seven days after exposure, presenting the 48.5 % of up-regulated genes between the treatments 100 y 200 mg/L, respectively, some up-regulated genes corresponded to Toll-interacting protein, Cytochrome P450 family, Cytochrome b-c1 complex subunit, Calcium-activated chloride channel regulator 1, among others. Furthermore, for down-regulated genes, we identified genes such as Complement C1q-like protein 4, Glutathione peroxidase, Ganglioside GM2 activator, Neurotrypsin, among others. Finally, genes and metabolic pathways found in this oil exposure experiment, suggest that C. virginica is an excellent sentinel species, and it has great potential in environmental conservation studies.
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