Department of General Microbiology, Paulo de Goes Institute of Microbiology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuval, Saudi Arabia.
Sci Rep. 2021 Feb 2;11(1):2767. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-82387-x.
Synthetic estrogens such as ethinylestradiol (EE2) are persistent micropollutants that are not effectively removed from wastewater by conventional treatments. These contaminants are released into waterbodies, where they disrupt endocrine systems of organisms and cause harmful effects such as feminization, infertility, reproduction problems and genital malformations. The consequences of this pollution for key marine ecosystems such as coral reefs and their associated microbiomes are underexplored. We evaluated the effects of EE2 concentrations of 100 ng L and 100 µg L on the coral metaorganism Mussismilia harttii. The results indicated no effects on visible bleaching or F/F ratios in the corals during a 17-day microcosm experiment. However, next-generation sequencing of 16S rDNA revealed a statistically significant effect of high EE2 concentrations on OTU richness, and shifts in specific microbial groups after treatments with or without EE2. These groups might be bioindicators of early shifts in the metaorganism composition caused by EE2 contamination.
合成雌激素，如乙炔雌二醇（EE2），是持久性的微污染物，不能被常规处理有效去除。这些污染物被释放到水体中，破坏生物的内分泌系统，导致有害影响，如雌性化、不孕、生殖问题和生殖器畸形。这种污染对珊瑚礁等关键海洋生态系统及其相关微生物组的影响还未得到充分探索。我们评估了浓度为 100ng/L 和 100μg/L 的 EE2 对珊瑚共生体盔形珊瑚的影响。在为期 17 天的微宇宙实验中，结果表明 EE2 对珊瑚的可见白化或 F/F 比值没有影响。然而，16S rDNA 的下一代测序显示，高 EE2 浓度对 OTU 丰富度有统计学显著影响，并且在有无 EE2 处理后，特定微生物群发生了变化。这些群组可能是 EE2 污染导致共生体组成早期变化的生物指标。
