The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill is among the most severe environmental disasters in US history. Our previous study showed both the crude oil and the dispersant have the toxic effect on the reproduction and gene expression in C. elegans. At the molecular level, microRNA-mediated gene silencing has emerged as a fundamental regulatory mechanism of gene expression in many biological processes. However, miRNAs-mediated gene regulation in response to major pollution events is poorly understood. Here we tested a total of 231 microRNA expression and analyzed the expression profile of some miRNAs in C. elegans exposed to oil-alone, dispersant-alone and the mixture of oil and dispersant (Oil-Dis). The results show that the aberrant expressions of miRNAs were induced and some of the changed miRNAs are conserved in C.elegans and mammals. A large portion of crude oil/dispersant induced miRNAs are involved in reproduction process (21.7%), which putatively regulate ~ 800 genes in various pathways related to reproduction and development, including the apoptosis, oocyte maturation, and male mating behaviors. Our study suggests that the microRNAs might serve as biomarker for detection, diagnosis, and prognosis of reproductive and developmental defects induced by environmental toxicants.

Oil/dispersant induced the aberrant expression of miRNAs in <i>C. elegans</i>: Implications in reproductive toxicity

246th National Meeting (2013)

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Oil/dispersant induced the aberrant expression of miRNAs in C. elegans: Implications in reproductive toxicity