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Joint effects of temperature and copper exposure on developmental and gene-expression responses of the marine copepod Tigriopus japonicus

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Abstract

There is growing contamination of copper (Cu) in the marine environment, particularly after the ban of organotin compounds and the increase of the use of Cu-based antifouling paints. Although there are increasing research interests in temperature-dependent chemical toxicity to aquatic organisms, most existing studies focused on acute impacts of chemicals at high concentrations. This study aimed to investigate the interacting effect of temperature and copper exposure at environmentally relevant concentrations on survival and development in the marine copepod Tigriopus japonicus with a partial life-cycle toxicity test. Expressions of five stress response genes in the copepod, namely two glutathione S-transferases (GST-S and GST-O), two heat shock proteins (HSP70 and HSP90), and glutathione reductase (GR) were also investigated. The copepod’s survival was significantly impaired at 15 °C after development to adult stage, while its developmental time reduced significantly with increasing temperature. Copper at the two environmentally relevant test concentrations had no significant impacts on these apical endpoints whereas the interaction between Cu and temperature was more significant in modulating gene expressions. GST-S, GST-O and HSP90 genes in copepods exposed to 100 µg Cu L−1 were significantly upregulated at 20 °C. At 32 °C, most genes were either insignificantly expressed or down-regulated, compared to the control, likely suggesting that thermal stress inhibited the copepod’s antioxidative defense system. Overall, the results revealed that the joint Cu and thermal stresses have significantly elicited antioxidative system in the copepods. It clearly demonstrated the need for more fundamental studies about potential impacts of different environmental factors such as temperature on chemical toxicity under realistic scenario of marine pollution.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR Government through a General Research Fund (Project No. HKU 703511 P). RWS Lai and GJ Zhou were supported by the State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong which receives regular research funding support from Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) of the Hong Kong SAR Government. However, any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication do not reflect the views of the HKSAR Government or the ITC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Swire Institute of Marine Science and School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, 999077, China

    Adela Jing Li

  2. College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China

    Adela Jing Li

  3. State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution and Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China

    Racliffe Weng Seng Lai, Guang-Jie Zhou, Priscilla To Yan Leung & Kenneth Mei Yee Leung

  4. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Macau, Macau, 999078, China

    Racliffe Weng Seng Lai

  5. School of Environment, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, China

    Eddy Y. Zeng

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  1. Adela Jing Li
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Contributions

AJL: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. RWSL: Formal analysis, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. G-JZ: Investigation, Writing - review & editing. PTYL: Methodology, Writing - review & editing. EYZ: Investigation, Writing - review & editing. KMYL: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing.

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Correspondence to Racliffe Weng Seng Lai or Kenneth Mei Yee Leung.

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Li, A.J., Lai, R.W.S., Zhou, GJ. et al. Joint effects of temperature and copper exposure on developmental and gene-expression responses of the marine copepod Tigriopus japonicus. Ecotoxicology 32, 336–343 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-023-02643-w

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