Estrogen in the Water: Impacts of Sewage Wastewater on Feminization and Vitellogenin Expression in Male Fathead Minnows (Pimephales promelas)
Estrogenic compounds (primarily from substances likebirth control drugs) are commonly found in domesticwastewater effluent. These compounds can feminize malefish (e.g., decrease male secondary sex characteristics),reducing competitive advantage during spawning.Exposure to estrogenic chemicals can al...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Purdue University Press
2012-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research |
| Online Access: | http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1025&context=jpur |
| Summary: | Estrogenic compounds (primarily from substances likebirth control drugs) are commonly found in domesticwastewater effluent. These compounds can feminize malefish (e.g., decrease male secondary sex characteristics),reducing competitive advantage during spawning.Exposure to estrogenic chemicals can also lead to theproduction of female-specific proteins such as vitellogenin(VTG). VTG is a yolk-precursor protein synthesizedby the liver of egg-laying females after the stimuli ofestrogen. We hypothesize that upon exposure to estrogencontainingwastewater, adult male fathead minnows(Pimephales promelas) will express this female-specificprotein. Adult males were caged at two different sites inthe West Fork of the White River. The downstreamgroup was placed directly below the outflow from theMuncie Water Pollution Control Facility (MWPCF),while another group (upstream) was placed 0.25 kmupstream from MWPCF. Following a two-week exposure,secondary sex characteristics were examined, and liverswere processed through quantitative polymerasechainreaction (qPCR) to determine expression of VTG. Whileno significant differences resulted from comparison ofsecondary sex characteristics between the study groups,downstream males showed a VTG up-regulation of~ 14-fold (SD = 2.4) when compared to the control group.These results are in agreement with a previous studyin this same area that found “feminization” of nativepopulations of bluntnose minnows (Pimephales notatus).The “estrogenic” compounds that elicited this responseremain unknown. |
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| ISSN: | 2158-4044 2158-4052 |