Multitissue Molecular, Genomic, and Developmental
Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on Resident Gulf Killifish
(Fundulus grandis)
- Publication date
- Publisher
Abstract
The Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster
resulted in crude oil contamination
along the Gulf coast in sensitive estuaries. Toxicity from exposure
to crude oil can affect populations of fish that live or breed in
oiled habitats as seen following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. In an
ongoing study of the effects of Deepwater Horizon crude oil on fish,
Gulf killifish (Fundulus grandis) were
collected from an oiled site (Grande Terre, LA) and two reference
locations (coastal MS and AL) and monitored for measures of exposure
to crude oil. Killifish collected from Grande Terre had divergent
gene expression in the liver and gill tissue coincident with the arrival
of contaminating oil and up-regulation of cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A)
protein in gill, liver, intestine, and head kidney for over one year
following peak landfall of oil (August 2011) compared to fish collected
from reference sites. Furthermore, laboratory exposures of Gulf killifish
embryos to field-collected sediments from Grande Terre and Barataria
Bay, LA, also resulted in increased CYP1A and developmental abnormalities
when exposed to sediments collected from oiled sites compared to exposure
to sediments collected from a reference site. These data are predictive
of population-level impacts in fish exposed to sediments from oiled
locations along the Gulf of Mexico coast