Seminar: Dr. Elena Legrand, UMCES/NIST
June 07, 2017 at 3:00pm to at 4:00pm
Host:
Title: “Coupling of “omics” approaches and bio-analytical tools to study crustacean endocrinology”
Speaker:
Dr. Elena Legrand, UMCES/NIST
Abstract:
Use of “omics” tools has increased over the last decades, particularly in physiology studies. These technics allow to observe early responses, highlight pathways and develop new molecular biomarkers. Moreover, the technics development this last decades permits to extend their use to non-model organisms such as copepods or crabs.
In this context, my PhD research project aimed to investigate the effects of pesticides (pyriproxyfen and chlordecone – alone and in mixture) known as endocrine disruptor’s (ED) on the widespread copepod Eurytemora affinis using ecotoxicogenomics (transcriptomics and proteomics). Specifically, the physiological processes of reproduction, growth and development were examined. The two ‘omics’ approaches yielded that ED pesticides had a gender-dependent effect: males were more sensitive and impacted greatly by contaminants than females. Genes and proteins (e.g. chitin deacetylase, kelch protein) were identified as potential candidates of ED molecular biomarkers. Moreover, the endocrine activity of each compound and mixtures was evaluated using in vitro tests (YES/YAS/anti-YES/anti-YAS and S2 EcR). The data highlighted the binding of pesticides to both vertebrate and invertebrate receptors. Our findings further support the need for a combined-vertebrate and invertebrate specific test for ED risk assessment to evaluate the “cut off criteria” used in European assessment.