College of Resources and Environment, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, Hunan, China; Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Rural Ecosystem Health in Dongting Lake Area, Changsha 410128, Hunan, China.
College of Life Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410006, Hunan, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Sep 1;785:147364. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147364. Epub 2021 Apr 27.
Spiders are believed to have enormous potential for indicating heavy metal pollution in ecosystems. The diversity of influencing factors caused significant differences in the toxicities of cadmium (Cd) on spiders. There is limited understanding of the underlying mechanism and response to acute Cd exposure at different concentrations and different poisoning times. We exposed adult female P. subpiraticus to 0.2 mM and 2 mM Cd for 6 and 12 h, respectively, to explore acute Cd toxicities by RNA-seq. We measured the bioaccumulation levels in P. subpiraticus and tested the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione S-transferase (GST). There were 187, 292, 101 and 155 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) after exposure to 0.2 mM and 2 mM Cd for 6 and 12 h, respectively. The results revealed that Cd accumulated in P. subpiraticus, changed the SOD and GST activities, and caused significant adverse effects at the molecular level on metabolism and immune and oxidative stress, with time- and concentration-dependent differences. Transcriptome analysis showed that acute Cd exposure depressed lipid metabolism and induced protein metabolism, especially serine metabolism. Genes encoding lipoproteins were depressed when exposed to 0.2 mM Cd, while fatty acid-related genes were downregulated under 2 mM Cd stress. In total, 46 cuticle-related genes were upregulated, and 6 cytoskeleton-related genes changed notably in the immune process. Peroxidase-related genes were further upregulated significantly. Meanwhile, the pathways related to metabolism, immunity and oxidative stress were significantly enriched. This report illustrated that acute Cd exposure exerts toxicities on P. subpiraticus and the spiders against acute Cd toxicities by selective differential expression of the genes associated with the physiological process of metabolism and immune and antioxidant stress. This study provides a comprehensive transcriptional basis for understanding the response of the P. sublimations to heavy metals at different concentrations and different treatment times.
蜘蛛被认为具有指示生态系统重金属污染的巨大潜力。影响因素的多样性导致了镉（Cd）对蜘蛛的毒性存在显著差异。对于不同浓度和不同中毒时间下急性 Cd 暴露的潜在机制和响应，人们的了解有限。我们分别将成年雌性 P. subpiraticus 暴露于 0.2 mM 和 2 mM Cd 中 6 和 12 h，通过 RNA-seq 来探究急性 Cd 毒性。我们测量了 P. subpiraticus 中的生物累积水平，并测试了超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）和谷胱甘肽 S-转移酶（GST）的活性。暴露于 0.2 mM 和 2 mM Cd 6 和 12 h 后，分别有 187、292、101 和 155 个差异表达基因（DEGs）。结果表明，Cd 在 P. subpiraticus 中累积，改变了 SOD 和 GST 活性，并在分子水平上对代谢、免疫和氧化应激产生了显著的不良影响，且具有时间和浓度依赖性差异。转录组分析表明，急性 Cd 暴露抑制了脂质代谢并诱导了蛋白质代谢，特别是丝氨酸代谢。当暴露于 0.2 mM Cd 时，脂蛋白编码基因被抑制，而在 2 mM Cd 胁迫下，脂肪酸相关基因下调。总共上调了 46 个表皮相关基因，在免疫过程中 6 个细胞骨架相关基因发生显著变化。过氧化物酶相关基因进一步显著上调。同时，与代谢、免疫和氧化应激相关的途径也显著富集。本报告表明，急性 Cd 暴露对 P. subpiraticus 具有毒性，蜘蛛通过选择性差异表达与代谢、免疫和抗氧化应激生理过程相关的基因来应对急性 Cd 毒性。本研究为理解 P. sublimations 对不同浓度和不同处理时间重金属的响应提供了全面的转录基础。
