Correction to: Sex-specific changes in gene expression in response to estrogen pollution around the onset of sex differentiation in grayling (Salmonidae).

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Low adaptive potential for tolerance to ethynylestradiol, but also low toxicity, in a grayling population (Thymallus thymallus).

Background: The presence of a novel pollutant can induce rapid evolution if there is additive genetic variance for the tolerance to the stressor. Continuous selection over some generations can then reduce the toxicity of the pollutant but also deplete the additive genetic variance for the tolerance and thereby slow down adaptation. One common pollutant that has been ecologically relevant for some time is 17alpha-ethynylestradiol (EE2), a synthetic compound of oral contraceptives since their market launch in the 1960s.

Sex-specific changes in gene expression in response to estrogen pollution around the onset of sex differentiation in grayling (Salmonidae).

The synthetic 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) is a common estrogenic pollutant that has been suspected to affect the demography of river-dwelling salmonids. One possibility is that exposure to EE2 tips the balance during initial steps of sex differentiation, so that male genotypes show female-specific gene expression and gonad formation. Here we study EE2 effects on gene expression around the onset of sex differentiation in a population of European grayling (Thymallus thymallus) that suffers from sex ratio distortions.