Exposure to wastewater effluent disrupts hypoxia responses in killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus). 2021

Samantha C Lau, and Hossein Mehdi, and Leslie M Bragg, and Mark R Servos, and Sigal Balshine, and Graham R Scott
Department of Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada.

Hypoxia (low oxygen) often occurs in aquatic ecosystems that receive effluent from municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). The combination of hypoxia and WWTP effluent could impair fish health, because WWTP effluent contains multiple contaminants that could disrupt the physiological pathways fish use to cope with hypoxia, but the interactive effects of these stressors on fish physiology are poorly understood. We have examined this issue by exposing mummichog killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) to hypoxia (5 and 2 kPa O2) and/or 100% WWTP effluent for 21 days in a full factorial design. We then measured hypoxia tolerance, whole-animal metabolism, gill morphology, haematology, and tissue metabolites. In clean water, killifish responded to chronic hypoxia with improvements in hypoxia tolerance, as reflected by increases in time to loss of equilibrium at 0.5 kPa (tLOE). These improvements occurred in association with increases in the exposed surface of gill lamellae that resulted from a regression of interlamellar cell mass (ILCM). Concurrent exposure to wastewater attenuated the increases in tLOE and gill remodeling in chronic hypoxia, and nearly depleted brain glycogen stores. Therefore, exposure to WWTP effluent can disrupt the physiological mechanisms fish use to cope with chronic hypoxia and impair hypoxia tolerance. Our research suggests that the combination of stressors near WWTPs can have interactive effects on the physiology and health of fish.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D005880 Gills Paired respiratory organs of fishes and some amphibians that are analogous to lungs. They are richly supplied with blood vessels by which oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged directly with the environment. Gill
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D000860 Hypoxia Sub-optimal OXYGEN levels in the ambient air of living organisms. Anoxia,Oxygen Deficiency,Anoxemia,Deficiency, Oxygen,Hypoxemia,Deficiencies, Oxygen,Oxygen Deficiencies
D017753 Ecosystem A functional system which includes the organisms of a natural community together with their environment. (McGraw Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed) Ecosystems,Biome,Ecologic System,Ecologic Systems,Ecological System,Habitat,Niche, Ecological,System, Ecological,Systems, Ecological,Biomes,Ecological Niche,Ecological Systems,Habitats,System, Ecologic,Systems, Ecologic
D062065 Wastewater Contaminated water generated as a waste product of human activity. Waste Water,Waste Waters,Wastewaters,Water, Waste,Waters, Waste
D023781 Fundulidae Family of small, surface-dwelling fish that inhabit fresh and brackish waters, and coastal marine areas. Fundulus,Gulf Killifish,Killifish, Gulf,Fundulus grandis,Topminnows

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