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Physiological and molecular responses in the silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) larvae after acute mercury exposure

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Abstract

The current study was performed to examine the acute toxicity of mercuric chloride (HgCl2) on the silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) larvae. Probit analysis was used to determine the median lethal concentration (LC50). The LC50 values of Hg2+ for the fish larvae at 24, 48, 72, and 96 h were 267.72, 252.97, 225.57, and 97.80 μg/L, respectively. The safe concentration of Hg was 9.78 μg/L for fish larvae. Based on the 96 h LC50, fish were exposed to four different groups including 0, 6.11, 12.23, and 24.45 μg/L for 96 h to assess the effects of different concentrations of Hg2+ on antioxidant capacity, energy metabolism parameters, and related gene expression. The findings revealed that there were no significant differences in the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) in fish larvae among all the groups (P < 0.05). In the 12.23 μg/L group, fish larvae had a maximum in catalase (CAT) activity. The creatine kinase (CK) activities of fish larvae in control and 6.11 μg/L groups were significantly lower than those groups (P < 0.05). A high concentration of Hg2+ significantly upregulated the mRNA levels of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and metallothionein (MT) genes in fish larvae. Furthermore, the IBR index value showed the highest value in the 24.45 μg/L group. Overall, this study provides an increased understanding of the effects of Hg-acute toxicity on silver carp larvae.

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Data availability

The data and materials that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFD0900902, 2018YFD0900905) and the Engineering Research Center of Ecology and Agricultural Use of Wetland, Ministry of Education (Yangtze University) (KFT202006).

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Author notes

  1. Cheng-Zhuang Chen and Yi Chai equally contributed to this article.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine College, Shandong University, Weihai, 264209, Shandong, China

    Cheng-Zhuang Chen, Ping Li, Ling Liu & Zhi-Hua Li

  2. Engineering Research Center of Ecology and Agricultural Use of Wetland, Ministry of Education, College of Agriculture, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, 434025, Hubei Province, China

    Yi Chai & Ya-Jun Wang

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  1. Cheng-Zhuang Chen
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  2. Yi Chai
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  4. Ping Li
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  5. Ling Liu
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  6. Zhi-Hua Li
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Contributions

Cheng-Zhuang Chen: writing—original draft preparation; Ya-Jun Wang: sampling and index measurement; Ping Li: writing—reviewing and editing; Ling Liu: data analysis; Yi Chai: culture and sampling; Zhi-Hua Li: conceptualization and overall guidance.

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Correspondence to Zhi-Hua Li.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. Approval of Animal Ethics Committee of Yangtze University was taken.

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Chen, CZ., Chai, Y., Wang, YJ. et al. Physiological and molecular responses in the silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) larvae after acute mercury exposure. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 49760–49770 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-25842-8

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