Effect of cadmium on cytosine hydroxymethylation in gastropod hepatopancreas

5-Hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) is an important, yet poorly understood epigenetic DNA modification, especially in invertebrates. Aberrant genome-wide 5hmC levels have been associated with cadmium (Cd) exposure in humans, but such information is lacking for invertebrate bioindicators. Here, we aimed t...

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Main Authors: Nica, Dragos, Popescu, Cristina, Draghici, George, Privistirescu, Ionela, Suciu, Maria, Stöger, Reinhard
Format: Article
Published: Springer 2017
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Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43023/
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author Nica, Dragos
Popescu, Cristina
Draghici, George
Privistirescu, Ionela
Suciu, Maria
Stöger, Reinhard
author_facet Nica, Dragos
Popescu, Cristina
Draghici, George
Privistirescu, Ionela
Suciu, Maria
Stöger, Reinhard
author_sort Nica, Dragos
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) is an important, yet poorly understood epigenetic DNA modification, especially in invertebrates. Aberrant genome-wide 5hmC levels have been associated with cadmium (Cd) exposure in humans, but such information is lacking for invertebrate bioindicators. Here, we aimed to determine whether this epigenetic mark is present in DNA of the hepatopancreas of the land snail Cantareus aspersus and is responsive to Cd exposure. Adult snails were reared under laboratory conditions and exposed to graded amounts of dietary cadmium for 14 days. Weight gain was used as a sublethal endpoint, whereas survival as a lethal endpoint. Our results are the first to provide evidence for the presence of 5hmC in DNA of terrestrial mollusks; 5hmC levels are generally low with the measured values falling below 0.03%. This is also the first study to investigate the interplay of Cd with DNA hydroxymethylation levels in a non-human animal study system. Cadmium retention in the hepatopancreas of C. aspersus increased from a dietary Cd dose of 1 milligram per kilogram dry weight (mg/kg d. wt). For the same treatment, we identified the only significant elevation in percentage of samples with detectable 5hmC levels despite the lack of significant mortalities and changes in weight gain among treatment groups. These findings indicate that 5hmC is an epigenetic mark that may be responsive to Cd exposure, thereby opening a new aspect to invertebrate environmental epigenetics.
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spelling nottingham-430232020-05-04T19:57:02Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43023/ Effect of cadmium on cytosine hydroxymethylation in gastropod hepatopancreas Nica, Dragos Popescu, Cristina Draghici, George Privistirescu, Ionela Suciu, Maria Stöger, Reinhard 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) is an important, yet poorly understood epigenetic DNA modification, especially in invertebrates. Aberrant genome-wide 5hmC levels have been associated with cadmium (Cd) exposure in humans, but such information is lacking for invertebrate bioindicators. Here, we aimed to determine whether this epigenetic mark is present in DNA of the hepatopancreas of the land snail Cantareus aspersus and is responsive to Cd exposure. Adult snails were reared under laboratory conditions and exposed to graded amounts of dietary cadmium for 14 days. Weight gain was used as a sublethal endpoint, whereas survival as a lethal endpoint. Our results are the first to provide evidence for the presence of 5hmC in DNA of terrestrial mollusks; 5hmC levels are generally low with the measured values falling below 0.03%. This is also the first study to investigate the interplay of Cd with DNA hydroxymethylation levels in a non-human animal study system. Cadmium retention in the hepatopancreas of C. aspersus increased from a dietary Cd dose of 1 milligram per kilogram dry weight (mg/kg d. wt). For the same treatment, we identified the only significant elevation in percentage of samples with detectable 5hmC levels despite the lack of significant mortalities and changes in weight gain among treatment groups. These findings indicate that 5hmC is an epigenetic mark that may be responsive to Cd exposure, thereby opening a new aspect to invertebrate environmental epigenetics. Springer 2017-06 Article PeerReviewed Nica, Dragos, Popescu, Cristina, Draghici, George, Privistirescu, Ionela, Suciu, Maria and Stöger, Reinhard (2017) Effect of cadmium on cytosine hydroxymethylation in gastropod hepatopancreas. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 24 (17). pp. 15187-15195. ISSN 1614-7499 Cadmium; 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine; Land snails; Hepatopancreas; Dietary exposure http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-017-9104-4?wt_mc=Internal.Event.1.SEM.ArticleAuthorOnlineFirst doi:10.1007/s11356-017-9104-4 doi:10.1007/s11356-017-9104-4
spellingShingle Cadmium; 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine; Land snails; Hepatopancreas; Dietary exposure
Nica, Dragos
Popescu, Cristina
Draghici, George
Privistirescu, Ionela
Suciu, Maria
Stöger, Reinhard
Effect of cadmium on cytosine hydroxymethylation in gastropod hepatopancreas
title Effect of cadmium on cytosine hydroxymethylation in gastropod hepatopancreas
title_full Effect of cadmium on cytosine hydroxymethylation in gastropod hepatopancreas
title_fullStr Effect of cadmium on cytosine hydroxymethylation in gastropod hepatopancreas
title_full_unstemmed Effect of cadmium on cytosine hydroxymethylation in gastropod hepatopancreas
title_short Effect of cadmium on cytosine hydroxymethylation in gastropod hepatopancreas
title_sort effect of cadmium on cytosine hydroxymethylation in gastropod hepatopancreas
topic Cadmium; 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine; Land snails; Hepatopancreas; Dietary exposure
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43023/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43023/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43023/