0# Diesel water-accommodated fraction induced lipid homeostasis alteration in zebrafish embryos☆
Graphical abstract
Introduction
Recently (January 6, 2018) a ship collision accident occurred near the estuary of Yangtze River, resulting in large amount condensate and fuel oil into the offshore of the East China Sea. Although condensate evaporates quickly from seawater, the potential risk of remaining fuel oil towards marine and freshwater ecosystems has aroused widespread concern>.
The occurrence of oil originating from ship accidents or other anthropogenic activities (e.g., ship operation, oil drilling, pipe cracks and transport of bunker fuel) in water environments may have negative effects on aquatic ecosystems (Crone and Tolstoy, 2010; Miljeteig et al., 2013; Won et al., 2016). In a typical freshwater oil spill, approximately 4 million liters of oil were accidentally discharged into the Arroio Saldanha River in 2000, affecting an area of 2.5 km2, including rivers and small streams in Barigui and Iguacu (Silva et al., 2009). Although these kinds of large oil spills are widely covered in the media, the main source of petroleum contamination in inland waters is thought to be ship leaks into surface water along with small, continuous leakages from underground bulk storage tanks, which reach groundwater and later rivers (Tiburtius et al., 2005). Previous studies have found that crude and fuel oil exposure can induce multiple responses (e.g., oxidative stress, reproductive toxicity, DNA damage, behavioral effects and immune response) in mammals, fish, crustaceans and phytoplankton in marine environments (Monson et al., 2011; Dubansky et al., 2013; Mager et al., 2014; Alloy et al., 2015; Ozhan et al., 2014).
Oil contamination poses considerable threats to the yield and quality of aquatic production as well as the personal health of consumers. In consideration of the impact of petroleum hydrocarbon pollution on aquatic organisms, the Chinese government imposed a maximum oil level in surface water of 0.05 mg/L (Ministry of Environment Protection, 2002). However, according to the environmental monitoring results obtained in major fisher areas in China, petroleum hydrocarbon contents exceeding this threshold have been detected in recent years (Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Environment Protection, 2014–2016). Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the toxic effects of petroleum contaminants in aquatic organisms to determine the ecological risks of oil pollution.
0# diesel is widely used as a fuel for the diesel engines of ships and vehicles and is one of the main sources of petroleum hydrocarbons in freshwater. Exposure to diesel or its derivatives can induce a variety of toxic symptoms in animals. Studies on goldfish (Carassius auratus) have shown that the water-soluble fraction of diesel oil can significantly induce antioxidant defenses at concentrations of 0.05 and 0.1 mg/L over 40 days of exposure (Zhang et al., 2004). Geraudie et al. (2016) reported that diesel shows neurotoxicity towards Icelandic scallops (Chlamys islandica) after seven days of exposure. Studies on mammals have also indicated that diesel pollutants cause inflammation, reproductive toxicity and immune response in various organisms (Kisin et al., 2015; Yanamala et al., 2013; Cole et al., 2016). Despite the reported toxicity data, the lipid homeostasis alteration and developmental effects of diesel pollutants remain uncharacterized.
The water-accommodated fraction (WAF) of oil is the fraction that contains the largest amount of water-soluble hydrocarbons, and WAF exposure is considered as an alternative method to evaluate the toxic effects of oil (Mager et al., 2014; Singer et al., 2000; Temkin et al., 2016). Currently, aquatic bioassay has been an frequently approach to evaluate the impacts of hazardous chemicals (Qiao et al., 2016), and zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo is one of the most widely used model for eco-toxicological investigations (Mu et al., 2018; Batel et al., 2018; Kim et al., 2018). In the present study, the mortality, developmental effects, lipid homeostasis alteration and corresponding biological pathways of 0# diesel WAF are investigated using zebrafish embryos as a model. These results reflect the potential risk of diesel pollution to freshwater animals and enable a better understanding of the molecular mechanism of diesel WAF in zebrafish embryos.
Section snippets
Zebrafish maintenance and embryo collection
Adult wild-type AB zebrafish (10 months old) were obtained from China Zebrafish Resource Center (Wuhan, China). All adult zebrafish were maintained in flow-through feeding equipment (Esen Corp.) at 26 °C with a 14/10 h (light/dark) photoperiod and fed daily with live brine shrimp (Artemia salina). The preparation of zebrafish embryos was carried out as described in our previous work (Mu et al., 2013).
Chemicals and reagents
Commercial 0# diesel was purchased from a local fuel supplier. Standard water was prepared in
Exposure validation
The total PH content in the exposure media was validated by UV spectrophotometric determination (Figs. S1–S2). According to the water analysis results, the nominal oil concentrations of 10 mg/L and higher could basically represent the actual oil level in the exposure solution (the deviation between nominal and actual oil concentrations was less than 30%, Tables S1–S3). However, for dosages of 5 mg/L and lower, large fluctuations in the detected level of oil were observed during the exposure
Discussion
Diesel fuel can harm environmental health via multiple media, including air, soil, seawater and freshwater (Rundle et al., 2012; Balliana et al., 2017; Sagerup et al., 2016; Simonato and Guedes., 2008). The negative effects of diesel exhaust particles on environmental organisms and particularly mammals have been intensively investigated in recent years (Bengalli et al., 2017; Trindade et al., 2017). In addition, the toxic effects of diesel-contaminated soils on earthworms (Eudrilus eugeniae),
Conclusion
Based on the zebrafish embryo developmental test, the current oil limit of 0.05 mg/L is basically safe for freshwater creatures since the effective dosage (5 mg/L) is far from the limit. However, it is worth noting that the transcriptional profiles of zebrafish embryos were altered after exposure to 0.05 mg/L 0# diesel WAF, which reflects the potential to alter different biological pathways, including lipid metabolism, the endocrine system and amino acid metabolism. Furthermore, cholesterol
Author declaration
We declare that we have no actual or potential competing financial interest, and that no part of this paper has published or submitted elsewhere.
Acknowledgements
This research work was supported by the Special Funds of Key Technology in Oil Spills and the Special Funds of Conservation of Species Resources from the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture “Ecological Environment Monitoring of Chinese Fishery Water Areas.”
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This paper has been recommended for acceptance by Maria Cristina Fossi.