Allmon_Dissertation.pdf (4.62 MB)
Cardiotoxic effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and abiotic stressors in early life stage estuarine teleosts
Following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, extensive research has been conducted on the toxicity of oil and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the aquatic environment. The location and timing of the Deepwater Horizon surface slick coincided with the spawning seasons of many important pelagic and estuarine fish species. As such, there has been particular emphasis placed on the effects of PAHs on sensitive life history stages in fish, such as the embryonic and larval periods. Additionally, the spill occurred throughout the spring and summer months which, in estuaries, are marked by regular fluctuations in abiotic environmental factors such as dissolved oxygen, salinity, and temperature. Until recently, there has been little work done to elucidate the combined effects that PAHs from oil spills and adverse environmental conditions (hypoxia, increased salinity, and elevated temperatures).
Work presented in this dissertation uses next generation sequencing technology (RNA Seq) to determine differential gene expression in larval estuarine teleosts following exposure to adverse environmental conditions and PAHs. Downstream canonical pathway and toxicological function analysis were then applied to the identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) to predict cardiotoxic responses at the organismal level. To verify the predicted responses, a phenotypic anchoring study was conducted and identified a cardiotoxic phenotype (pericardial edema) and reduced cardiac output in embryos exposed to oil. Finally, the mechano-genetic interplay governing the morphological development of the teleost heart was investigated and correlations between developmental gene expression and blood flow forces within the cardiovascular system were identified.
Funding
Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (SA 13-01/GoMRI-009)
Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (G-231806)
History
Degree Type
- Doctor of Philosophy
Department
- Forestry and Natural Resources
Campus location
- West Lafayette
Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair
Dr. Maria S. SepĂșlvedaAdditional Committee Member 2
Dr. Robert J. GriffittAdditional Committee Member 3
Dr. Mark R. ChristieAdditional Committee Member 4
Dr. Jennifer L. FreemanUsage metrics
Categories
- Bioinformatics and computational biology not elsewhere classified
- Evolution of developmental systems
- Gene expression (incl. microarray and other genome-wide approaches)
- Genomics
- Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology)
- Plant cell and molecular biology
- Animal cell and molecular biology
- Animal physiology - biophysics
- Animal physiology - cell
- Animal physiology - systems
- Toxicology (incl. clinical toxicology)
Keywords
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbonshypoxiaDeepwater HorizonCardiac Developmentestuarine fish speciestranscriptomicsCardiac outputFundulus grandisGulf killifishCyprinodon variegatussheepshead minnowJapanese medakaOryzias latipesmechano-geneticsteleostgene expressionPAHsRNASeqearly life historyembryolarval fishBioinformaticsDevelopmental BiologyGene Expression (incl. Microarray and other genome-wide approaches)GenomicsMarine BiologyMolecular BiologyPhysiologyToxicology