Molecular responses to 17β-estradiol in early life stage salmonids.

Environmental estrogens (EE) are ubiquitous in many aquatic environments and biological responses to EEs in early developmental stages of salmonids are poorly understood compared to juvenile and adult stages. Using 17β-estradiol (E2) as a model estrogen, waterborne exposures were conducted on early life stage rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss; egg, alevin, swim-up fry) and both molecular and physiological endpoints were measured to quantify the effects of E2. To investigate developmental stage-specific effects, laboratory exposures of 1 μg/L E2 were initiated pre-hatching as eyed embryos or post-hatching upon entering the alevin stage.