Abstract
The contamination of toxic heavy metals in aquatic environments has garnered significant global attention due to its detrimental effects on marine organisms and human health. Hexavalent chromium is a typical environmental and occupational heavy metal pollutant, identified as carcinogenic heavy metal. This study aimed to assess the impact of different Cr (VI) concentrations (0.05–2.5 mg/L) on Urechis unicinctus (U. unicinctus) by investigating bioaccumulation, antioxidant defense system, expression of resistance-related genes, and histological issues. A clear concentration-effect relationship was observed in the bioaccumulation of Cr (VI) in muscle tissues of U. unicinctus. Moreover, exposure to Cr (VI) can alter the activities of lysozyme (LSZ), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) to enhance cellular defense mechanisms in U. unicinctus. Likewise, maintained the normal protein structure and functional stability by regulating protein folding. The heat shock cognitive protein (HSC70) gene showed an upward and then downward trend after Cr (VI) exposure. At 12 h, the HSC70 gene expression reached the maximum values of 4.75 and 4.61-fold in the 0.1 and 1.5 mg/L groups, respectively. The organism produced a large number of free radicals, and elevated level of metallothionein (MT) was used to scavenge free radicals and alleviate oxidative stress. Additionally, histopathological examination revealed disorganization in the midgut, atrophic changes in intestinal connective tissue, uneven distribution in respiratory tissues, and irregular shape with a significant reduction in epithelial cells within the gastric cavity. These findings can serve as a valuable reference for elucidating the toxicity mechanisms of heavy metals towards marine benthic organisms and enhancing water environment monitoring strategies.
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Funding
This study was supported by grant from the Subei Science and Technology Special Project, Jiangsu Province Science and Technology Department (SZ-LYG202124, LYG-SZ201814); Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (CXKT2020); Lianyungang City Science and Technology Development Project (CN1411); Lianyungang City Huaguoshan Talents Plan (KK20100); Jiangsu Ocean University Graduate Research and Practice Innovation Program Project (KYCX2023-71; KYCX2023-105); A Project funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education; Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (23KJB180005); and Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20230690).
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SL: investigation, data curation, writing—original draft; LZ: investigation, data curation, writing—original draft; ZX, LW: data curation, writing—review and editing; SW: writing—review and editing; MS: validation, writing—review and editing; XX: supervision, validation, resources, project administration, funding acquisition.
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Liu, S., Zhu, L., Xu, Z. et al. Toxic effect of chromium on nonspecific immune, bioaccumulation, and tissue structure of Urechis unicinctus. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 23077–23090 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32441-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-32441-8