New inter-correlated genes targeted by diatom-derived polyunsaturated aldehydes in the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus

Abstract

The marine environment is continually subjected to the action of stressors (including natural toxins), which represent a constant danger for benthic communities. In the present work using network analysis we identified ten genes on the basis of associated functions (FOXA, FoxG, GFI-1, nodal, JNK, OneCut/Hnf6, TAK1, tcf4, TCF7, VEGF) in the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus, having key roles in different processes, such as embryonic development and asymmetry, cell fate specification, cell differentiation and morphogenesis, and skeletogenesis. These genes are correlated with three HUB genes, Foxo, Jun and HIF1A. Real Time qPCR revealed that during sea urchin embryonic development the expression levels of these genes were modulated by three diatom-derived polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs), decadienal, heptadienal and octadienal. Our findings show how changes in gene expression levels may be used as an early indicator of stressful conditions in the marine environment. The identification of key genes and the molecular pathways in which they are involved represents a fundamental tool in understanding how marine organisms try to afford protection against toxicants, to avoid deleterious consequences and irreversible damages. The genes identified in this work as targets for PUAs can be considered as possible biomarkers to detect exposure to different environmental pollutants.

Combined Effects of Diatom-Derived Oxylipins on the Sea Urchin Paracentrotus lividus

“…Our current results indicate that mixtures of these compounds induce a synergistic effect, confirming that PUAs induce malformations and HEPE developmental delay but with a stronger effect with respect to individual compounds [46,47]. The harmful effects of these compounds were also confirmed by molecular analysis, indicating that sea urchins place in motion functionally intercorrelated genes to counteract negative effects against these natural toxins [48][49][50].…”

“…Moreover, we isolated 12 new genes, involved in stress response and embryonic developmental processes, from the sea urchin P. lividus. These genes were subjected to interactomic analysis, demonstrating that they were functionally interconnected with 11 genes already described in previous studies investigating the response of P. lividus embryos to single oxylipins [30,48,49]. Finally, the expression levels of these 23 genes were followed by real-time qPCR to identify possible gene targets affected by oxylipin mixtures.…”

“…Interactomic analysis showed that the 12 new genes identified are connected to the following 11 genes, previously analyzed in response to single PUAs and HEPEs treatments: bone morphogenetic protein 5-7 (BMP5-7), catalase (CAT), glutamine synthetase (GS), hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF1A), heat shock protein 70 (hsp70), Jun (Jun), sex-determining region Y (SRY)-box9 (Sox9), TGF beta-activated kinase (TAK1), Wnt5 (Wnt5), and Wnt8 (Wnt8) [30,48,49]. As shown in the network reported in Figure 2A, the genes are correlated as follows: (1) ADMP2 with BMP5-7 and Sox9; (2) Notch with BMP5-7, Delta, HIF1A, Jun, Smad6, Sox9, and Wnt5; (3) Goosecoid with Brachyury, Nodal, and Wnt8; (4) Brachyury with Goosecoid, Nodal, Notch, Wnt5, and Wnt8; (5) Smad6 with BMP5-7, Notch, and MAPK3/7; (6) GRHPR with CAT, Glut, and SDH; (7) PARP1 with ARF1, CAT, hsp70, Jun, H3.3, and HIF1A; (8) ARF1 with KIF19 and PARP1; (9) SDH with GRHPR and hsp70.…”

Toxigenic effects of two benthic diatoms upon grazing activity of the sea urchin: morphological, metabolomic and de novo transcriptomic analysis

“…Fifty genes, having key roles in different functional processes, were followed by Real Time qPCR (Supplementary Fig. S7 ) 11 – 13 , 34 . At the pluteus stage (48 hpf; Fig.…”

Multiple Roles of Diatom-Derived Oxylipins within Marine Environments and Their Potential Biotechnological Applications

“…In a similar study, IPA analysis was applied to further explore the molecular pathway involved in the response to PUAs in P. lividus . In particular, an additional twelve genes ( FOXA , FoxG , GFI-1 , nodal , JNK , OneCut/Hnf6 , TAK1 , tcf4 , TCF7 , VEGF , Foxo and Jun ), linked to those isolated in previous studies [ 67 , 71 ], were also shown to modify their expression in sea urchin embryos treated with PUAs [ 73 ]. Molecular analyses using the primer pairs for the same genes analysed by Varrella et al [ 67 , 71 ] and Ruocco et al [ 73 ] revealed that 5- and 15-HEPEs had very few common molecular targets, with 5-HEPE switching on the highest number of genes, mainly at the early and swimming blastula stages [ 72 ].…”