New insights into methylmercury induced behavioral and energy-related gene transcriptional responses in European glass eel (Anguilla anguilla)

• Published in: Chemosphere
• Main Authors: Liu, Hengtong, Lamarins, Amaia, Labonne, Jacques, Monperrus, Mathilde, Coste, Pascale, Huchet, Emmanuel, Rives, Jacques, Seiliez, Iban, Bolliet, Valérie
• Other Authors: Ecologie Comportementale et Biologie des Populations de Poissons (ECOBIOP), Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Nutrition, Métabolisme, Aquaculture (NuMéA), Institut des sciences analytiques et de physico-chimie pour l'environnement et les materiaux (IPREM), Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA)-Institut de Chimie - CNRS Chimie (INC-CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), The research leading to these results has received funding from the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) and AEAG (Agence de l’Eau Adour-Garonne) under the MICROPOLIT project. We wish to thank the IE ECP for the technical support and the China Scholarship Council for the grant to Hengtong Liu
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: glass eels; metabolism; methylmercury; migration behavior; anguilla anguilla; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; [SDV.BA]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology; Anguilla anguilla
• Online Access: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02868468; https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02868468/document; https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02868468/file/S0045653520312133.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127020

International audience The effect of methylmercury (MeHg) was investigated in glass eel migration behavior and metabolism. To migrate up estuary, glass eels synchronize their swimming activity to the flood tide and remain on or in the substratum during ebb tide. Following seven days of exposure to MeHg (100 ng L-1), glass eels migration behavior was expressed by their swimming synchronization to the water current reversal every 6.2 h (mimicking the alternation of flood and ebb tides) and their swimming activity level. In relation to their behavior, we then analyzed the energy-related gene expression levels in individual head, viscera and muscle. Results showed that MeHg decreased the number of glass eels synchronized to the change in water current direction and their swimming activity level. This last effect was more pronounced in non-synchronized fish than in synchronized ones, supporting the idea that nonsynchronized glass eels could be more vulnerable to stress. As regard the expression of energy-related genes, no significant difference was observed between control and MeHg-exposed fish. In contrast,when the swimming activity levels were plotted against transcriptional responses, positive correlations were evidenced in viscera and especially in the head of exposed glass eels but not in control. Finally, it is noteworthy that non-synchronized glass eels displayed lower expression level of metabolism genes than their synchronized counterpart, but only in the head. Altogether, these results support the interest of focusing on the head to investigate the facultative migration behavior in glass eels and the effect of environmental stressors on this rhythmic behavior