Transcriptional Response of Vitellogenin Gene in Flatfish to Environmental Pollutants from Two Regions of the Gulf of Mexico.

The present study evaluates the endocrine effect in flatfish through vitellogenin (vtg) gene expression and its association with pollutants data obtained from fish muscle and sediment from two regions in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM): Perdido Fold Belt (northwestern) and the Yucatan Peninsula (southeast). The results revealed induction of vtg in male flatfish in both geographical regions with different levels and patterns of distribution per oceanographic campaign (OC). In the Perdido Fold Belt, vtg was observed in male fish during four OC (carried out in 2016 and 2017), positively associated with Pb, V, Cd and bile metabolites (hydroxynaphthalene and hydroxyphenanthrene).

The digestive tract sections of the sea cucumber Isostichopus badionotus reveal differences in composition, diversity, and functionality of the gut microbiota.

For the first time, this study analyses the composition and diversity of the gut microbiota of Isostichopus badionotus in captivity, using high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing, and predicts the metagenomic functions of the microbiota. The results revealed a different composition of the gut microbiota for the foregut (FG) and midgut (MG) compared to the hindgut (HG), with a predominance of Proteobacteria, followed by Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes. The FG and MG demonstrated a greater bacterial diversity compared to the HG.

Acute Exposure to Crude Oil Induces Epigenetic, Transcriptional and Metabolic Changes in Juvenile Sciaenops ocellatus.

In this study, we report molecular and metabolic responses of Sciaenops ocellatus during an acute oil exposure bioassay (100, 800 and 8000 mg 1 of crude oil). The global DNA methylation and expression profiles of key genes of the xenobiotic biotransformation system (cytochrome P450 1A [cyp1a] and glutathione S-tranferase [gst]), oxidative stress system (glutathione peroxidase [gpx], catalase [cat], aldehyde dehydrogenase [aldh]) and reproductive system (vitellogenin [vtg]) were evaluated. At the metabolic level, we evaluated the concentration of four polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) metabolites -hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene, hydroxypyrene, hydroxynaphthalene and hydroxyphenanthrene- in fish bile.