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Controlled uptake of PFOA in adult specimens of Paracentrotus lividus and evaluation of gene expression in their gonads and embryos
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Researchers exposed sea urchins to PFOA — a persistent chemical used in nonstick coatings and plastics manufacturing — and found it accumulated rapidly in body fluids and reproductive organs, altered gene expression in gonads, and caused developmental defects in the offspring of exposed adults, highlighting its ability to harm not just exposed animals but their next generation.
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has been largely used in the manufacturing industry but a few years ago it turned out to be a dangerous pollutant which is now of concern for terrestrial and aquatic environments. Here, we investigated the bioaccumulation of PFOA in the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus after exposure to different concentrations of the pollutant for 28 days. We observed rapid uptake of PFOA in the coelomic fluid collected weekly during the exposure period and high bioaccumulation in gonads at the end of the experiment. Interestingly, animals were also able to fast depurate when relocated to a clean environment. In addition, to assess the effect of PFOA on sea urchins' physiological pathways, we analysed the expression profile of some marker genes both in the gonads and in the embryos obtained from parents exposed to PFOA. Our results suggest that PFOA is a persistent, bioaccumulative compound that adversely affects the health of the exposed organisms and their offspring by causing significant changes in the expression of some key target genes and the occurrence of developmental anomalies in the embryos.
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Researchers exposed sea urchin larvae (Paracentrotus lividus) to polystyrene microplastics derived from commercial disposable plates and assessed effects on fertilization, embryogenesis, and larval development, finding significant impairment of early developmental stages at environmentally relevant concentrations.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.