Marine Pollutant Tributyltin Affects DNA Methylation and Fitness of Banded Murex (Hexaplex trunculus) Populations

Šrut, Maja; Sabolić, Iva; Erdelez, Anita; Grbin, Dorotea; Furdek Turk, Martina; Bakarić, Robert; Peharda, Melita; Štambuk, Anamaria (2023) Marine Pollutant Tributyltin Affects DNA Methylation and Fitness of Banded Murex (Hexaplex trunculus) Populations. Toxics, 11 (3). ISSN 2305-6304

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Abstract

Banded murex, Hexaplex trunculus, is a marine gastropod whose reproductive fitness can be severely affected by very low concentrations of antifouling compound tributyltin (TBT). TBT has strong xenoandrogen impacts on snails, causing the development of imposex (e.g., the superimposition of male sexual characteristic in females), thereby affecting the fitness of entire populations. TBT is also known as a DNA-demethylating agent and an obesogenic factor. The aim of this study was to unravel the interactions between TBT bioaccumulation, phenotypic responses, and epigenetic and genetic endpoints in native populations of H. trunculus. Seven populations inhabiting environments along the pollution gradient were sampled in the coastal eastern Adriatic. These included sites of intense marine traffic and boat maintenance activity and sites with low anthropogenic impact. Populations inhabiting intermediately and highly polluted sites exhibited higher TBT burdens, higher incidences of imposex, and higher wet masses of snails than populations in lowly polluted sites. Other morphometric traits and cellular biomarker responses did not show clear differentiation among populations in relation to marine traffic/pollution intensity. An analysis of methylation sensitive amplification polymorphism (MSAP) revealed environmentally driven population differentiation and higher epigenetics than genetic within-population diversity. Moreover, decreases in genome-wide DNA methylation coincided with the imposex level and snail mass, suggesting an epigenetic background of the animal phenotypic response.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	population epigenetics; fitness; imposex; pollution; evolution
Subjects:	NATURAL SCIENCES > Biology NATURAL SCIENCES > Biology > Biochemistry and Molecular Biology NATURAL SCIENCES > Biology > Ecology NATURAL SCIENCES > Interdisciplinary Natural Sciences NATURAL SCIENCES > Interdisciplinary Natural Sciences > Environmental Science
Divisions:	Division for Marine and Enviromental Research
Depositing User:	Ana Zečević
Date Deposited:	01 Dec 2025 08:39
URI:	http://fulir.irb.hr/id/eprint/10265
DOI:	10.3390/toxics11030276

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