Whole-transcriptome response to wastewater treatment plant and stormwater effluents in the Asian clam, Corbicula fluminea

The increase in human population and urbanization are resulting in an increase in the volume of wastewater and urban runoff effluents entering natural ecosystems. These effluents may contain multiple pollutants to which the biological response of aquatic organisms is still poorly understood mainly due to mixture toxicity and interactions with other environmental factors. In this context, RNA sequencing was used to assess the impact of a chronic exposure to wastewater treatment plant and stormwater effluents at the whole-transcriptome level and evaluate the potential physiological outcomes in the Asian clam Corbicula fiuminea. We de-novo assembled a transcriptome from C. fluminea digestive gland and identified a set of 3,181 transcripts with altered abundance in response to water quality. The largest differences in transcriptomic profiles were observed between C. fiuminea from the reference site and those exposed to wastewater treatment plant effluents. On both anthropogenically impacted sites, most differentially expressed transcripts were involved in signaling pathways in relation to energy metabolism such as mTOR and FoxO, suggesting an energy/nutrient deficit and hypoxic conditions. These conditions were likely responsible for damages to proteins and transcripts in response to wastewater treatment effluents whereas exposure to urban runoff might result in immune and endocrine disruptions. In absence of comprehensive chemical characterization, the RNAseq approach could provide information regarding the mode of action of pollutants and then be useful for the identification of which parameters must be studied at higher integration level in order to diagnose sites where the presence of complex and variable mixtures of chemicals is suspected.

Keyword(s)

Transcriptomics, Wastewater treatment plant, Urban runoff, Water quality, In-situ exposure, Corbicula fluminea

Full Text

FilePagesSizeAccess
Publisher's official version
111 Mo
Supplementary material
-16 Ko
Supplementary material 2
-1 Mo
Supplementary material 3
-3 Mo
Supplementary material 4
150 Ko
Supplementary material 5
-85 Ko
Author's final draft
331 Mo
How to cite
Bertucci Anthony, Pierron Fabien, Gourves Pierre-Yves, Klopp Christophe, Lagarde Gauthier, Pereto Clement, Dufour Vincent, Gonzalez Patrice, Coynel Alexandra, Budzinski Helene, Baudrimont Magalie (2018). Whole-transcriptome response to wastewater treatment plant and stormwater effluents in the Asian clam, Corbicula fluminea. Ecotoxicology And Environmental Safety. 165. 96-106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2018.08.090, https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00792/90392/

Copy this text