The influence of temperature rise on the metabolic response of Ruditapes philippinarum clams to 17-?-ethinylestradiol

abstract

Untargeted Nuclear Magnetic Resonance metabolomics was employed to study the effects of warming conditions (17-21 degrees C) and exposure to 17-alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2) on the polar metabolome of Ruditapes philippinarum clams, to identify metabolic markers for monitoring/prediction of deviant environmental conditions. Warming alone trig-gered changes in alanine/aspartate/glutamate, aromatic amino acids, taurine/hypotaurine and homarine/trigonelline pathways, as well as in energy metabolism, suggesting osmoregulatory adaptations and glycolytic/tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle activation, possibly accompanied to some extent by gluconeogenesis to preserve glycogen reserves. At 17 degrees C, the lowest EE2 concentration (5 ng/L) specifically engaged branched-chain and aromatic amino acids to activate the glycolysis/TCA cycle. Notably, a partial metabolic recovery was observed at 25 ng/L, whereas higher EE2 concen-trations (125 and 625 ng/L) again induced significant metabolic disturbances. These included enhanced glycogen bio-synthesis and increased lipid reserves, sustained by low-level glutathione-based antioxidative mechanisms that seemed active. At 21 degrees C, response to EE2 was notably weak at low/intermediate concentrations, becoming particularly significant at the highest EE2 concentration (625 ng/L), suggesting higher protection capacity of Ruditapes philippinarum clams under warming conditions. At 625 ng/L, disturbances in alanine/aspartate/glutamate and tau-rine/hypotaurine metabolisms were observed, with no evidence of enhanced carbohydrate/protein catabolism. This low energy function profile was accompanied by marked antioxidative mechanisms and choline compounds modula-tion for cell membrane protection/repair. These results help monitor clams ' response to temperature rise and EE2 ex-posure, paving the way for future effective guidance and prediction of environmental damaging effects.

keywords

MUSSELS MYTILUS-GALLOPROVINCIALIS; GENDER-SPECIFIC RESPONSES; NMR-BASED METABOLOMICS; HALIOTIS-DIVERSICOLOR; ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS; OCEAN ACIDIFICATION; POWERFUL APPROACH; OYSTER; GILLS; WATER

subject category

Environmental Sciences & Ecology

authors

Rodrigues, JA; Silva, M; Araujo, R; Madureira, L; Soares, AMVM; Freitas, R; Gila, AM

Groups

G5 - Biomimetic, Biological and Living Materials

Projects

CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials (UIDB/50011/2020)

CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials (UIDP/50011/2020)

Associated Laboratory CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials (LA/P/0006/2020)

Rede Nacional de Ressonância Magnética Nuclear (PTNMR)

Collaboratory for Emerging Technologies, CoLab (EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES)

acknowledgements

This work was developed within the CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials project (UIDB/50011/2020, UIDP/50011/2020&LA/P/0006/2020)financed by national funds through the FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC). We are also grateful to the Portuguese National NMR Network (PTNMR), sup-ported by FCT funds as the NMR spectrometer used is part of PTNMR and partially supported by Infrastructure Project No. 022161 (co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE 2020, POCI and PORL, and the FCT through PIDDAC). This work was also financially supported by the project BISPECIAl: BIvalveS under Polluted Environment and ClImate chAnge(POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028425) funded by FEDER, through COM-PETE2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacao(POCI), and by national funds (OE), through FCT/MCTES. Monica G.Silva benefited from Research Grant (MSc) (BI/CESAM/0043_2019/POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028425) under the project BISPECIAl: BIvalveSunder Polluted Environment and ClImate change PTDC/CTA-AMB/28425/2017 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028425).