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...

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Published in:Biology Letters
Main Authors: Tartu, Sabrina, Goutte, Aurélie, Bustamante, Paco, Angelier, Frédéric, Moe, Borge, Clément-Chastel, Céline, Bech, Claus, Gabrielsen, Geir Wing, Bustnes, J. O., Chastel, Olivier
Other Authors: 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
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hal.science/hal-00828084
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317
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spelling ftunivnantes:oai:HAL:hal-00828084v1 2023-05-15T14:58:38+02:00 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 Clément-Chastel, Céline Bech, Claus Gabrielsen, Geir Wing Bustnes, J. O. 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 2013-05-08 https://hal.science/hal-00828084 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-00828084 https://hal.science/hal-00828084 doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317 PUBMEDCENTRAL: PMC3730643 ISSN: 1744-9561 Biology Letters https://hal.science/hal-00828084 Biology Letters, 2013, 9 (4), pp.20130317. ⟨10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317⟩ intermittent breeding mercury GnRH challenge luteinizing hormone black-legged kittiwake [SDE]Environmental Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2013 ftunivnantes https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317 2023-03-07T23:59:30Z 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 versus non-breeders), mercury contamination and sex. Specifically, in skippers (birds that did not breed), baseline LH decreasedwith increasingmercury concentration inmales,whereas 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, thereby impacting population dynamics. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Black-legged Kittiwake rissa tridactyla Svalbard Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES Arctic Svalbard Biology Letters 9 4 20130317
institution Open Polar
collection Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES
op_collection_id ftunivnantes
language English
topic intermittent breeding
mercury
GnRH challenge
luteinizing hormone
black-legged kittiwake
[SDE]Environmental Sciences
spellingShingle intermittent breeding
mercury
GnRH challenge
luteinizing hormone
black-legged kittiwake
[SDE]Environmental Sciences
Tartu, Sabrina
Goutte, Aurélie
Bustamante, Paco
Angelier, Frédéric
Moe, Borge
Clément-Chastel, Céline
Bech, Claus
Gabrielsen, Geir Wing
Bustnes, J. O.
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
[SDE]Environmental Sciences
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 versus non-breeders), mercury contamination and sex. Specifically, in skippers (birds that did not breed), baseline LH decreasedwith increasingmercury concentration inmales,whereas 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, thereby impacting 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
Clément-Chastel, Céline
Bech, Claus
Gabrielsen, Geir Wing
Bustnes, J. O.
Chastel, Olivier
author_facet Tartu, Sabrina
Goutte, Aurélie
Bustamante, Paco
Angelier, Frédéric
Moe, Borge
Clément-Chastel, Céline
Bech, Claus
Gabrielsen, Geir Wing
Bustnes, J. O.
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-00828084
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317
geographic Arctic
Svalbard
geographic_facet Arctic
Svalbard
genre Arctic
Black-legged Kittiwake
rissa tridactyla
Svalbard
genre_facet Arctic
Black-legged Kittiwake
rissa tridactyla
Svalbard
op_source ISSN: 1744-9561
Biology Letters
https://hal.science/hal-00828084
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-00828084
https://hal.science/hal-00828084
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317
PUBMEDCENTRAL: PMC3730643
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0317
container_title Biology Letters
container_volume 9
container_issue 4
container_start_page 20130317
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