To breed or not to breed: endocrine response to mercury contamination by an arctic seabird
International audience Mercury, a ubiquitous toxic element is known to alter expression of sex steroids and to impair reproduction across vertebrates but the mechanisms underlying these effects are not clearly identified. We examined whether contamination by mercury predicts the probability to skip...
Published in: | Biology Letters |
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Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-00918744 https://hal.science/hal-00918744v2/document https://hal.science/hal-00918744v2/file/Tartu%20et%20al%202013%20BIOL%20LETTERS.pdf https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317 |
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ftinraparis:oai:HAL:hal-00918744v2 2024-09-15T18:00:00+00:00 To breed or not to breed: endocrine response to mercury contamination by an arctic seabird Tartu, Sabrina Goutte, Aurélie Bustamante, Paco Angelier, Frédéric Moe, Borge Clement-Chastel, Céline Bech, Claus Gabrielsen, Geir Wing Bustnes, Jan Ove Chastel, Olivier Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC) Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs) La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Division of Arctic Ecology (NINA) Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) Department of Biology Trondheim (IBI NTNU) Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim (NTNU) Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)-Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Norvegian Polar Research Institute (NPRI) Norwegian Polar Institute 2013-05-29 https://hal.science/hal-00918744 https://hal.science/hal-00918744v2/document https://hal.science/hal-00918744v2/file/Tartu%20et%20al%202013%20BIOL%20LETTERS.pdf https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317 en eng HAL CCSD Royal Society, The info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317 hal-00918744 https://hal.science/hal-00918744 https://hal.science/hal-00918744v2/document https://hal.science/hal-00918744v2/file/Tartu%20et%20al%202013%20BIOL%20LETTERS.pdf doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 1744-9561 Biology Letters https://hal.science/hal-00918744 Biology Letters, 2013, 9 (4), pp.20130317. ⟨10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317⟩ Intermittent breeding Mercury GnRH challenge Luteinizing Hormone Black-legged kittiwake [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2013 ftinraparis https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317 2024-07-30T14:12:32Z International audience Mercury, a ubiquitous toxic element is known to alter expression of sex steroids and to impair reproduction across vertebrates but the mechanisms underlying these effects are not clearly identified. We examined whether contamination by mercury predicts the probability to skip reproduction in black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) from Svalbard. We also manipulated the endocrine system to investigate the mechanism underlying this relationship. During the pre-laying period, we injected exogenous GnRH (gonadotropin-releasing hormone) to test the ability of the pituitary to release luteinizing hormone (LH, a key hormone for the release of sex steroids and hence breeding) in relation to mercury burden. Birds that skipped reproduction had significantly higher mercury concentration in blood than breeders. Endocrine profiles of these birds also varied based on breeding status (breeders vs. non-breeders), mercury contamination and sex. Specifically, in skippers (birds that did not breed), baseline LH decreased with increasing mercury concentration in males, while it increased in females. GnRH-induced LH levels increased with increasing mercury concentration in both sexes. These results suggest that mercury contamination may disrupt GnRH input to the pituitary. Thus, high mercury concentration could affect the ability of long-lived birds to modulate their reproductive effort (skipping or breeding) according to ongoing environmental changes in the Arctic and impact population dynamics. Article in Journal/Newspaper Black-legged Kittiwake rissa tridactyla Svalbard Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique: ProdINRA Biology Letters 9 4 20130317 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique: ProdINRA |
op_collection_id |
ftinraparis |
language |
English |
topic |
Intermittent breeding Mercury GnRH challenge Luteinizing Hormone Black-legged kittiwake [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology |
spellingShingle |
Intermittent breeding Mercury GnRH challenge Luteinizing Hormone Black-legged kittiwake [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology Tartu, Sabrina Goutte, Aurélie Bustamante, Paco Angelier, Frédéric Moe, Borge Clement-Chastel, Céline Bech, Claus Gabrielsen, Geir Wing Bustnes, Jan Ove Chastel, Olivier To breed or not to breed: endocrine response to mercury contamination by an arctic seabird |
topic_facet |
Intermittent breeding Mercury GnRH challenge Luteinizing Hormone Black-legged kittiwake [SDV.TOX.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Toxicology/Ecotoxicology |
description |
International audience Mercury, a ubiquitous toxic element is known to alter expression of sex steroids and to impair reproduction across vertebrates but the mechanisms underlying these effects are not clearly identified. We examined whether contamination by mercury predicts the probability to skip reproduction in black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) from Svalbard. We also manipulated the endocrine system to investigate the mechanism underlying this relationship. During the pre-laying period, we injected exogenous GnRH (gonadotropin-releasing hormone) to test the ability of the pituitary to release luteinizing hormone (LH, a key hormone for the release of sex steroids and hence breeding) in relation to mercury burden. Birds that skipped reproduction had significantly higher mercury concentration in blood than breeders. Endocrine profiles of these birds also varied based on breeding status (breeders vs. non-breeders), mercury contamination and sex. Specifically, in skippers (birds that did not breed), baseline LH decreased with increasing mercury concentration in males, while it increased in females. GnRH-induced LH levels increased with increasing mercury concentration in both sexes. These results suggest that mercury contamination may disrupt GnRH input to the pituitary. Thus, high mercury concentration could affect the ability of long-lived birds to modulate their reproductive effort (skipping or breeding) according to ongoing environmental changes in the Arctic and impact population dynamics. |
author2 |
Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC) Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (LIENSs) La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Division of Arctic Ecology (NINA) Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) Department of Biology Trondheim (IBI NTNU) Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim (NTNU) Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)-Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Norvegian Polar Research Institute (NPRI) Norwegian Polar Institute |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tartu, Sabrina Goutte, Aurélie Bustamante, Paco Angelier, Frédéric Moe, Borge Clement-Chastel, Céline Bech, Claus Gabrielsen, Geir Wing Bustnes, Jan Ove Chastel, Olivier |
author_facet |
Tartu, Sabrina Goutte, Aurélie Bustamante, Paco Angelier, Frédéric Moe, Borge Clement-Chastel, Céline Bech, Claus Gabrielsen, Geir Wing Bustnes, Jan Ove Chastel, Olivier |
author_sort |
Tartu, Sabrina |
title |
To breed or not to breed: endocrine response to mercury contamination by an arctic seabird |
title_short |
To breed or not to breed: endocrine response to mercury contamination by an arctic seabird |
title_full |
To breed or not to breed: endocrine response to mercury contamination by an arctic seabird |
title_fullStr |
To breed or not to breed: endocrine response to mercury contamination by an arctic seabird |
title_full_unstemmed |
To breed or not to breed: endocrine response to mercury contamination by an arctic seabird |
title_sort |
to breed or not to breed: endocrine response to mercury contamination by an arctic seabird |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-00918744 https://hal.science/hal-00918744v2/document https://hal.science/hal-00918744v2/file/Tartu%20et%20al%202013%20BIOL%20LETTERS.pdf https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317 |
genre |
Black-legged Kittiwake rissa tridactyla Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Black-legged Kittiwake rissa tridactyla Svalbard |
op_source |
ISSN: 1744-9561 Biology Letters https://hal.science/hal-00918744 Biology Letters, 2013, 9 (4), pp.20130317. ⟨10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317 hal-00918744 https://hal.science/hal-00918744 https://hal.science/hal-00918744v2/document https://hal.science/hal-00918744v2/file/Tartu%20et%20al%202013%20BIOL%20LETTERS.pdf doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317 |
container_title |
Biology Letters |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
20130317 |
_version_ |
1810437113443778560 |