Transcriptome Profiling in Larval Fathead Minnow Exposed to

Jul 23, 2019 - ExportRIS. Citation · Citation and ... SNEA tables by treatment (XLSX). SNEA abbreviations (XLSX). pdf. es9b01493_si_001.pdf (1.23 MB) ...
0 downloads 0 Views 810KB Size
Subscriber access provided by KEAN UNIV

Ecotoxicology and Human Environmental Health

Transcriptome profiling in larval fathead minnow exposed to commercial naphthenic acids and extracts from fresh and aged oil sands process-affected water Jennifer Loughery, Julie R. Marentette, Richard A. Frank, L. Mark Hewitt, Joanne L. Parrott, and Christopher J Martyniuk Environ. Sci. Technol., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.9b01493 • Publication Date (Web): 23 Jul 2019 Downloaded from pubs.acs.org on July 24, 2019

Just Accepted “Just Accepted” manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication. They are posted online prior to technical editing, formatting for publication and author proofing. The American Chemical Society provides “Just Accepted” as a service to the research community to expedite the dissemination of scientific material as soon as possible after acceptance. “Just Accepted” manuscripts appear in full in PDF format accompanied by an HTML abstract. “Just Accepted” manuscripts have been fully peer reviewed, but should not be considered the official version of record. They are citable by the Digital Object Identifier (DOI®). “Just Accepted” is an optional service offered to authors. Therefore, the “Just Accepted” Web site may not include all articles that will be published in the journal. After a manuscript is technically edited and formatted, it will be removed from the “Just Accepted” Web site and published as an ASAP article. Note that technical editing may introduce minor changes to the manuscript text and/or graphics which could affect content, and all legal disclaimers and ethical guidelines that apply to the journal pertain. ACS cannot be held responsible for errors or consequences arising from the use of information contained in these “Just Accepted” manuscripts.

is published by the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street N.W., Washington, DC 20036 Published by American Chemical Society. Copyright © American Chemical Society. However, no copyright claim is made to original U.S. Government works, or works produced by employees of any Commonwealth realm Crown government in the course of their duties.

Page 1 of 31

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Environmental Science & Technology

Transcriptome profiling in larval fathead minnow exposed to commercial naphthenic acids and extracts from fresh and aged oil sands process-affected water Jennifer R. Loughery1, Julie R. Marentette2, Richard A. Frank2, Larry Mark Hewitt2, Joanne L. Parrott2, Christopher J. Martyniuk1,3* 1Department

of Biological Sciences, University of New Brunswick, Saint John, NB, Canada Science and Technology Directorate, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Burlington, ON, Canada 3current address: Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology and Department of Physiological Sciences, UF Genetics Institute, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, FL, USA *corresponding author 2Water

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

1

Abstract

2

Surface mining and extraction of oil sands results in the generation and need for storage of

3

large volumes of oil sands process-affected water (OSPW). More structurally complex than

4

classical naphthenic acids (NAs), naphthenic acid fraction components (NAFCs) are key toxic

5

constituents of OSPW and changes in the NAFC profile in OSPW over time have been linked to

6

mitigation of OSPW toxicity. Molecular studies targeting individual genes have indicated that

7

NAFC toxicity is likely mediated via oxidative stress, altered cell cycles, ontogenetic

8

differentiation, endocrine disruption, and immunotoxicity. However, the individual-gene

9

approach results in a limited picture of molecular responses. This study shows that NAFCs,

10

from aged or fresh OSPW, have a unique effect on the larval fathead minnow transcriptome and

11

provides initial data to construct adverse outcome pathways for skeletal deformities. All three

12

types of processed NAs (fresh, aged, and commercial) affected the immunome of developing

13

fish. These gene networks included immunity, inflammatory response, B-cell response, platelet

14

adhesion, and T-helper lymphocyte activity. Larvae exposed to both NAFCs and commercial NA

15

developed cardiovascular and bone deformities and transcriptomic networks reflected these

16

developmental abnormalities. Gene networks found only in NAFC-exposed fish suggest NAFCs

17

may alter fish cardiovascular health through altered calcium ion regulation. This study improves

18

understanding regarding the molecular perturbations underlying developmental deformities

19

following exposure to NAFCs.

20 21

Key words: Pimephales promelas, molecular responses, oxidative stress, naphthenic acid

22

fraction components, acid extractable organics, oil sands, Athabasca River, immunome

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 2 of 31

Page 3 of 31

Environmental Science & Technology

23

1. Introduction

24

Oil (bituminous) sands, such as the deposits found in the Athabasca region McMurray formation

25

of Alberta, Canada, contain a wide variety of compounds, including carboxylic acids and acid-

26

extractable organic compounds (AEOs), hereafter referred to as ‘naphthenic acid fraction

27

components’ (NAFCs)1-4. Surface mining of oil sands via the Clark caustic hot water extraction

28

process, coupled with the reuse of process water, leads to high concentrations of NAFCs in

29

large volumes of stored fluid tailings which also contain other compounds such as salts, trace

30

metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons5-8. Classically defined as CnH2n+ZO2, where Z

31

indicates hydrogen atoms lost to ring formation, commercially available naphthenic acids (NAs)

32

are refined from petroleum products9-10. The molecular structures of NAFCs, however, are more

33

complex than classical NAs, with elaborate three-dimensional cage-like structures and the

34

incorporation of heteroatoms11-13. Comparisons of prominent structural components between

35

NAFCs and NAs revealed higher proportions of oxygen species such as O2S, O4 and NO3, and

36

a higher proportion of ring structures within NAFCs14.

37

Oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) is stored in settling basins to enable clarification for

38

reuse in the extraction process, with the industry working under a zero-discharge practice. In the

39

long term, remediation goals for the region include storage of OSPW in end pit lakes and

40

hydrological reconnection back into the environment15. Given the large volumes of OSPW

41

generated in the region (by 2013, 976 million m3 of OSPW had been generated, with a footprint

42

of 220 km2 16), and the presence of NAFCs in groundwater near and far from oil sands mining

43

operations17, an enhanced understanding of OSPW toxicity is an important step toward

44

improving OSPW remediation8. However, OSPW toxicity is challenging to characterize due to

45

temporal changes in chemical compositions (i.e., since final release into settling basins). Lower

46

molecular weight (LMW) and relatively less complex NAFC mixtures are at their greatest

47

concentrations in fresh OSPW, because they are readily lost to microbial degradation over

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

48

time2,19,20. Commercial NA mixtures, in contrast to NAFCs, are largely composed of simple O2-

49

dominated acids13,20-22. Importantly, these LMW compounds can be more acutely toxic than

50

larger species23-24, so the loss of these smaller NAs or NAFCs often reduces the toxicity of these

51

complex mixtures19,24-27 (but see references 14 and 29).

52

NAFCs have long been recognized as a major contributor of the toxicity of OSPW to a wide

53

variety of taxa10,28,30, but few studies have characterized molecular responses. Additionally,

54

multiple modes of toxicity have been implicated for both OSPW and extracted NAFCs31.

55

Oxidative stress and xenobiotic metabolic pathways, including several cytochrome P450 (CYP)

56

enzymes, have emerged as common elements. For example, in exposures to fresh OSPW,

57

early-life stages of fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) increased expression of oxidative

58

stress genes (glutathione-s-transferase, superoxide dismutase, caspase 932). However, these

59

studies employed a targeted gene approach and may have captured a limited picture of the

60

molecular responses due to NA and NAFC exposure.

61

In this study, we determined the transcriptional responses in newly-hatched larval fathead

62

minnow exposed as embryos to NAFCs extracted from both fresh and aged OSPW, and a

63

commercial NA mixture. Prior work had established that commercial NAs were more acutely

64

toxic than NAFCs to early-life stages of fathead minnow, but NAFCs from different sources and

65

ages of OSPW showed similar levels of toxicity14. Transcriptomic responses were measured to

66

probe whole organism responses to different NAFCs and a commercial NA. Transcriptomic

67

studies provide mechanistic insight into chemicals with unknown modes of action33. Additionally,

68

transcriptomic data can be grouped by related processes to gather a process-oriented view of

69

the altered transcripts, referred to herein as gene networks. We also compared differentially

70

expressed gene networks to morphometric characteristics of the larvae (growth, and

71

deformities), data that can contribute to adverse outcome pathways for NA exposure in this

72

environmentally relevant species.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 4 of 31

Page 5 of 31

Environmental Science & Technology

73 74

2. Materials and methods

75

2.1 Preparation of Exposure Solutions

76

Detailed methods are as described in Marentette et al. (2015) for exposure experiments. In

77

brief, OSPW (~2000 L) was collected in 2011 from an industry settling basin in active use

78

(extract termed 2011 Industry A Fresh, hereafter Fresh) and a test pond which had not received

79

OSPW since its establishment in 1993 from the same industrial company34 (extract termed 2011

80

Industry A Aged, or hereafter Aged). NAFCs were precipitated from OSPW bulk samples with

81

concentrated sulfuric acid and then purified via diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) cellulose, weak anion

82

exchanger, and liquid–liquid extraction clean-up using dichloromethane in a base solution of

83

0.05 M NaOH35. For comparison, a commercial NA mixture was prepared in the laboratory at

84

400 mg/L, also in a 0.05 M NaOH solution (Merichem Company: Acid no. 181 mg KOH/gm,

85

unsaponifiables 5.6%, water 0.13%). Final concentrations (mean ± SE) for the NAFC stock

86

solutions were measured as 1998 mg/L (Fresh OSPW) and 242 mg/L (Aged OSPW), via liquid

87

chromatography/quadrupole mass spectrometry with time of flight detection (LC/QToF) and

88

using Merichem naphthenic acid reference material (Commercial NA) for calibration. As

89

described in Marentette et al. (2015), nominal concentrations have been used throughout the

90

following analyses because in related later exposures, measured exposure concentrations

91

deviated only 16.5 ± 2.3% from nominal (mean ± SE).

92

Daily exposure solutions were prepared from the NAFC and commercial NA stocks using 0.05

93

M NaOH and carbon-filtered, dechlorinated and UV-sterilized municipal water, adjusted to a pH

94

of 8.3 ± 0.1 with 1.0 M HCl and incubated to reach 25 ± 1°C overnight before use (nominal

95

concentrations of 4.2 and 8.3 mg/L Fresh NAFC, 5.0 and 10.1 mg/L Aged NAFC and 1.25 and

96

2.50 mg/L Commercial NA). Laboratory municipal water and pH-adjusted 0.5 M NaOH solutions

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

97

(i.e., a salt control) were used as control exposures for the tests. Each salt control was tailored

98

to match the concentration of NaOH used for the corresponding test (therefore NaOH and HCl

99

concentrations are internally consistent within each toxicity test, but vary across tests of different

100

NAFCs/NAs). Water quality parameters of municipal water and exposure solutions, including

101

salt controls are reported in Marentette et al. (2015).

102

2.2 Fish husbandry and experimental design

103

Toxicity tests were conducted as described previously in Marentette et al. 2015. In brief, newly-

104

fertilized fathead minnow embryos (20 per group) were washed with test solution and pipetted

105

into exposure vessels (24-well transparent polystyrene tissue culture plates, Falcon, Becton,

106

Dickenson and Co., New Jersey, USA). Eggs and larvae were incubated (one per well, 1 mL

107

solution per well) at 25 ± 1 °C with a 16 h light, 8 h dark light cycle. Tests were run in triplicate;

108

each replicate contained one laboratory control plate, one salt control plate, and five to six

109

dilutions of NA or NAFC. Exposure solutions were renewed daily and tests were terminated

110

within one day of hatch (approximately 4-5 days in freshwater at 25°C36) to encompass the

111

eleutheroembryonic (chorion-free, yolk-dependent) period. Animal handling and experimental

112

procedures were approved by the Animal Care Committee in the National Water Research

113

Institute, Canada Centre for Inland Waters (AUP # 1310).

114

This study used a subset (n = 136) of fathead minnow larvae from the toxicity tests of

115

Marentette et al. (2015). Larvae were selected from newly-hatched individuals randomly

116

selected from test plates, focusing on salt controls (i.e., 0 mg/L NA or NAFC) and two exposure

117

groups as close to the test LC50 as possible; higher concentrations could not be sampled as

118

mortality rates ensured not enough larvae were available. In most instances (21 of 27 exposure

119

groups), five larvae were selected per plate (i.e., 15 larvae total over three replicates). Only four

120

were available from each of three plates and six to seven larvae were collected from each of the

121

remainder.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 6 of 31

Page 7 of 31

Environmental Science & Technology

122

2.3 Larval Assessment

123

Newly hatched larvae were assessed as described in Marentette et al. 2015. Briefly, each larva

124

was inspected for deformities within one day of hatch. Inspection was not blind to the treatment

125

group. Mild deformities included: slight enlargement of the pericardial sac, single (pinpoint)

126

hemorrhages, mild spinal curvature and malformation of the medial/caudal finfold. Severe

127

deformities were designated as: pronounced edemas of the pericardium and/or yolk-sac, and

128

spinal curvature associated with mobility problems. Such severe deformities often co-occurred

129

with hemorrhages including hemostasis, abnormal (tube-shaped) hearts, and craniofacial

130

abnormalities, such as microphthalmia, edema around the ocular sockets, and/or abnormally

131

small or large jaws. After assessment, larvae were euthanized in a solution of tricaine methane-

132

sulfonate (TMS) and flash frozen in liquid nitrogen before storage at –80 °C.

133

2.4 Microarray analysis

134

Microarray analysis was performed using an 8x15 K fathead minnow microarray (GEO #

135

GPL9248) manufactured by Agilent Technologies (Santa Clara, CA, USA). Larval samples

136

were pooled by exposure group and replicate (sample sizes within each replicate ranged

137

between 3 and 7 larvae as noted above), resulting in N = 3 pooled samples for each of the

138

following groups: salt controls (fresh NAFC, aged NAFC and commercial NA 0 mg/L), low dose

139

(fresh NAFC 4.2 mg/L, aged NAFC 5.0 mg/L and commercial NA 1.25 mg/L) and high dose

140

(fresh NAFC 8.3 mg/L, aged NAFC 10.1 mg/L and commercial NA 2.5 mg/L). Extraction of RNA

141

from embryo samples was performed using 1 mL TRIzol® Reagent (Life Technologies,

142

Carlsbad, CA, USA) as per manufacturer’s protocol. Immediately after extraction, RNA pellets

143

were dissolved in 10 µL of RNAse-DNAse free water and purified through the RNeasy Mini Kit

144

column, as per manufacturer’s protocol (Qiagen, Valencia, CA, USA). Purified RNA samples

145

were assessed for quality using the 2100 Bioanalyzer (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA,

146

USA). All samples used in this study had a RIN >9.4. The mean RIN value was (9.9 ± 0.14). The

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

147

concentration of RNA was determined using the NanoDrop-2000 (Thermo Scientific, USA);

148

260/280 and 260/230 ratios were examined to confirm sample purity.

149

Following verification of high quality RNA, the RNeasy Mini Kit was used to purify RNA prior to

150

labeling as per manufacture’s protocol (Qiagen, Mississauga, ON, CAN). RNA concentrations

151

were determined using the NanoDrop-2000 spectrophotometer (Thermo Scientific). Microarray

152

hybridizations were performed according to the One-Color Microarray-Based Gene Expression

153

Analysis Low Input Quick Amp Labeling kit (Agilent V6.5, May 2010) and 125 ng total RNA per

154

sample was used for labelling and hybridization as per our previous protocol37. Microarrays

155

were scanned at 5 μm with the Agilent G2505 B Microarray Scanner, and Agilent Feature

156

Extraction Software (v. 9.5) was used to extract raw signal intensities from microarray images.

157

Microarray data were evaluated by manual inspection of the quality control parameters. All

158

arrays were deemed high quality. Raw microarray data have been deposited into the NCBI

159

Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database (Geo Accession Series GSE85994).

160

Raw intensity data were imported into JMP® Genomics v 7.0 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC,

161

USA). Intensity data were normalized using quantile normalization. Control spots were filtered

162

out prior to identifying differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and the limit of detection was set

163

to an intensity of 3.5 based on the Agilent spike in controls. Therefore, any probe falling below

164

this value was assigned a normalized intensity of 3.5. DEGs were identified using a one-way

165

analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by a false discovery rate (FDR) set at 5.0%, with α =

166

0.05. Cluster analysis was conducted in JMP Genomics v 7.0 and involved clustering of the

167

standardized least square means for differentially expressed transcripts.

168

Pathway Studio 9.0 (Elsevier) and ResNet 10.0 were utilized for sub-network enrichment

169

analysis (SNEA)37-38. A total number of 11, 378 fathead minnow transcripts were mapped to the

170

program using the official gene name (Name + Alias). SNEA was performed to identify cell

171

process networks that were affected in the FHM embryos following exposure to commercial NAs

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 8 of 31

Page 9 of 31

Environmental Science & Technology

172

and aged NAFCs39. Highest fold change, best p value was used for duplicated probes. The

173

enrichment P-value for a gene network was set at P < 0.05.

174

2.5 Real time PCR

175

Purified, high quality RNA, 500 ng, was used for cDNA synthesis using iScript (BioRad),

176

following the manufacturer’s protocol. After addition of nuclease free water, sample volume was

177

20 µL. No reverse transcriptase (NRT) and no template controls (NTC) were prepared in the

178

same fashion, except that the NRT contained no reverse transcriptase, and the NTC contained

179

no RNA. Nuclease free water replaced the volumes of reverse transcriptase and RNA,

180

respectively, to conserve a final reaction volume of 20 µL. Once prepared, samples were placed

181

in a T100™ Thermal Cycler (BioRad, USA). The cDNA was generated using the following steps:

182

25 °C for 5 min, 42 °C for 30 min, 85 °C for 5 min, and a final cycle of 4 °C for 5 min.

183

Primer sets for target genes were collected from literature (Table S1). Newly developed primer

184

sets were designed by Primer-BLAST (NCBI). The genes investigated in this study included

185

cytochrome b5 type a, cyb5a; member 1, cytochrome P450 family 2 subfamily J, polypeptide 30,

186

cyp2j30; apoptosis-inducing factor, mitochondrion-associated, 2, aifm2; and dihydrodiol

187

dehydrogenase, dhdhl. Proteins encoded by cyb5a have been shown to be related to lipid

188

metabolism40, while aifm2 translation products are related to caspase-independent apoptosis41.

189

The protein encoded by cyp2j30 is an epoxygenase enzyme associated with the metabolism of

190

arachidonic acid to epoxyeicosatrienoic acids and expression has been shown to be elevated in

191

cardiovascular and vascular tissue (orthologous to human cyp2j2)42. Lastly, dhdhl is associated

192

with xenobiotic metabolism, formation of reactive oxygen species and cancer43. Selection

193

criteria can be found in Supporting Information 1. Real-time PCR (qPCR) was performed using

194

the CFX96™ Real-Time PCR Detection System (BioRad) with SSoFast™ EvaGreen®

195

Supermix (BioRad, Hercules, CA, USA), 100 nM of each forward and reverse primer, and 5 µL

196

of cDNA (diluted 20-fold prior to real-time analysis). The two-step thermal cycling parameters

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

197

were as follows: initial 1-cycle Taq activation at 95 °C for 30 s, followed by 95 °C for 5 s, and

198

primer annealing for 5 s (temperature specified in Table S1). After 40 cycles, a dissociation

199

curve was generated, starting at 65.0 and ending at 95.0°C, with increments of 0.5 °C every 5 s.

200

Three reference genes (b-actin, ef1a, and rps18) were assessed for normalization. Expression

201

values were evaluated statistically using a Kruskal-Wallis test, to determine whether expression

202

levels varied across experimental groups. This was based upon total RNA input for the cDNA

203

synthesis. The mean expression levels of b-actin and ef1a were determined to be the most

204

stable combination of reference genes to normalize target genes. The target stability function in

205

the CFX96 software determined that the combined M-value for b-actin and ef1 was 0.84 (CV =

206

0.29). Each primer set was tested for linearity and efficiency using a 4 or 5 point standard curve

207

generated by a dilution series from a cDNA pool of FHM embryo. The qPCR analysis included 4

208

NRT samples and 1 NTC sample. Negative controls indicated that RNA isolation and column

209

purification sufficiently removed genomic DNA, so that it did not significantly impact gene

210

expression analyses. Normalized gene expression was extracted using CFX Manager™

211

software with the relative ΔΔCq method (baseline subtracted)44. All primers used in the qPCR

212

analysis amplified one product, indicated by a single melt curve. Samples were analyzed using

213

a Kruskal-Wallis test following by a Dunn’s post hoc test for multiple comparisons to the control

214

group. Correlation was determined with a Spearman matrix using normalized gene expression

215

data. All statistical analyses were performed in Prism (v. 6.0).

216

3.0 Results and Discussion

217

3.1 Survival and deformities

218

Nominal concentrations used in this study are reported in Table S2. The commercial NA mixture

219

(EC50 of 1.9 mg/L, CI95 1.7-2.2) was slightly more toxic to newly hatched fathead minnow than

220

NAFCs from either fresh or aged OSPW (EC50s of 5.0 (CI95 4.2-6.0) and 12.4 mg/L, CI95 11.2-

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 10 of 31

Page 11 of 31

Environmental Science & Technology

221

13.7, respectively)14. NAFCs from OSPW and commercial NAs also induced different types of

222

deformities. Over the entire toxicity test, exposure to commercial NAs produced elevated rates

223

of finfold deformities, while NAFC exposure resulted in elevated rates of cardiovascular (fresh

224

and aged NAFCs) and spinal deformities (aged alone)14. A similar but non-significant pattern

225

was reflected in the smaller subset of larvae used in the present analysis (no significant

226

differences via chi-square comparison of deformity proportions in the larvae; commercial NA χ2

227

= 2.5, p = 0.287; fresh NAFC χ2 = 2.35, p = 0.309; aged NAFC χ2 = 2.61, p = 0.270; Figure 1).

228

Deformities tended to be lowest in number or severity in larvae from salt controls relative to

229

exposed groups. While cardiovascular abnormalities (edemas and hemorrhages) were seen in

230

subsampled larvae from all three tests, spinal curvature was only observed in two individuals

231

exposed to NAFCs from aged OSPW, and finfold malformations were only observed in three

232

larvae exposed to commercial NAs (Figure 1).

233

NAFC exposure resulted in a higher percentage of larvae with cardiovascular and spinal

234

abnormalities, consistent with other findings. Walleye embryos exposed to NAFC, from 1 day

235

post-fertilization to hatch, developed spinal curvature, cardiovascular, craniofacial, and finfold

236

abnormalities45. Fathead minnow and Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) exposed to AEO from

237

OSPW showed that higher molecular weight fractions were more toxic than low molecular

238

weight fractions. Some fractions delayed hatch time, shortened larval length at hatch, and

239

exposed larvae showed yolk sac and pericardial edema in both species31. Yellow perch (Perca

240

flavescens) reared in Mildred Lake settling basin water, fresh OSPW, developed spinal, eye and

241

head deformities. Japanese medaka reared in the same water displayed pericardial edema,

242

tube heart, and decreased yolk uptake46. In another study, early life stage zebrafish (Danio

243

rerio) exposed to 2.50 mg/L NA extracted from Daqing oil exploration area, China, showed

244

delayed hatch time and decreased survival. Some embryos developed yolk sac and pericardial

245

edema and/ spine malformations47. Even in the absence of deformities, exposure to OSPW

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Environmental Science & Technology

246

decreased expression of genes associated with cardiac development and function in embryonic

247

zebrafish48.

248

Conversely, commercial NA exposure induced finfold abnormalities. However, this has not been

249

consistently reported in the literature. Peters et al. (2007) reported yellow perch exposed to

250

sodium naphthenate developed spinal, eye and head deformities, while Japanese medaka

251

developed pericardial edema, tube heart and decreased yolk uptake. While there were species

252

differences, each species developed similar deformities as larvae exposed to Mildred Lake

253

settling basin water. Wang et al. (2015) reported that embryo zebrafish exposed to commercial

254

NA developed yolk sac edema and spinal malformations. However, the percentage of

255

incidences was lower when compared to embryos exposed to commercial NA extracted from oil,

256

possibly related to the compositional differences between these mixtures14. Taken together,

257

these data suggest that both NAs and NAFCs can nevertheless induce significant

258

developmental defects and delays in different species of fish.

259

3.2 Transcriptome profiling of NAFC and NA treatments

260

In larvae exposed to fresh NAFCs, there were 34 transcripts that were differentially expressed

261

with exposure to 4.2 mg/L NAFCs, and 75 transcripts differentially expressed with exposure to

262

8.3 mg/L NAFCs, compared to salt controls (p