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Edited by Greg Goss, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, and accepted by the Editorial Board March 21, 2011 (received for review December 17, 2010)
Abstract
Exposure to high concentrations of crude oil produces a lethal syndrome of heart failure in fish embryos. Mortality is caused by cardiotoxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), ubiquitous components of petroleum. Here, we show that transient embryonic exposure to very low concentrations of oil causes toxicity that is sublethal, delayed, and not counteracted by the protective effects of cytochrome P450 induction. Nearly a year after embryonic oil exposure, adult zebrafish showed subtle changes in heart shape and a significant reduction in swimming performance, indicative of reduced cardiac output. These delayed physiological impacts on cardiovascular performance at later life stages provide a potential mechanism linking reduced individual survival to population-level ecosystem responses of fish species to chronic, low-level oil pollution.
Footnotes
↵1Present address: Oceans and Human Health Initiative, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1315 East-West Highway, SSMC3 #10353, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
- ↵2To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: john.incardona{at}noaa.gov.
Author contributions: C.E.H., D.H.B., M.S.S., S.D.R., and J.P.I. designed research; C.E.H., T.L.L., M.L.W., M.S.M., L.H., M.L., and J.P.I. performed research; C.E.H., D.H.B., M.S.M., L.H., M.L., M.S.S., S.D.R., T.K.C., N.L.S., and J.P.I. analyzed data; and C.E.H., M.L.W., M.S.M., M.S.S., S.D.R., T.K.C., N.L.S., and J.P.I. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. G.G. is a guest editor invited by the Editorial Board.
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1019031108/-/DCSupplemental.
Sublethal exposure to crude oil during embryonic development alters cardiac morphology and reduces aerobic capacity in adult fish
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