Toxicity evaluation and microbiota response of the lined sole Achirus lineatus (Chordata: Achiridae) exposed to the light petroleum water-accommodated fraction (WAF)

ABSTRACT

Exposure to contaminants might directly affect organisms and alter their associated microbiota. The objective of the present study was to determine the impact of the petroleum-water-accommodated fraction (WAF) from a light crude oil (API gravity 35) on a benthic fish species native from the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Ten adults of Achirus lineatus (Linnaeus, 1758) were exposed to a sublethal WAF/water solution of 50% v/v for 48 hr. Multiple endpoints were measured including tissue damage, presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) metabolites in bile and gut microbiota analyses. Atrophy and fatty degeneration were observed in livers. Nodules and inflammation were detected in spleen, and structural disintegration and atrophy in the kidney. In gills hyperplasia, aneurysm, and gills lamellar fusion were observed. PAHs metabolites concentrations in bile were significantly higher in exposed organisms. Gut microbiome taxonomic analysis showed significant shifts in bacterial structure and composition following WAF exposure. Data indicate that exposure to WAF produced toxic effects in adults of A. lineatus, as evidenced by histological alterations and dysbiosis, which might represent an impairment to long-term subsistence of exposed aquatic organisms.

KEYWORDS:

• Acute toxicity
• crude oil
• water-accommodated fraction
• lined sole
• achirus lineatus
• microbiota

Acknowledgments

Special thanks are conveyed to Mr. Richard Mena-Loría & Mrs. Irma Pérez-García for their help during the maintenance of fish.

This research has been funded by the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology – Mexican Ministry of Energy – Hydrocarbon Fund, project 201441. This is a contribution of the Gulf of Mexico Research Consortium (CIGoM). We acknowledge PEMEX´s specific request to the Hydrocarbon Fund to address the environmental effects of oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico.

Special thanks are conveyed to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments which improved this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no potential conflicts of interest.

Supplementary material

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Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico – Mexican Ministry of Energy – Hydrocarbon Trust, project 201441.