Meeting Abstract
Nowadays, assessing the toxicity of chemicals in a single generation is no longer sufficient. One must take into consideration the possible inheritance of effects at the level of two or several generations. In the present study, we used the viviparous least killifish, Heterandria formosa, as a model species to test the hypothesis that an exposure to copper (Cu) in fish early life stage (ELS) can modify the protein expression profile in offspring. One week old least killifish were exposed to Cu at 15 μg/L for a period of one week, a condition inducing acclimation as previously reported using time-to-death endpoints. Fish were then held in clean water till breeding. After cytosolic protein extraction, their expression profile in 2 weeks old larvae was analyzed using 2D-DIGE followed by protein identification by nano-LC-ESI-MS/MS. A total of 50 protein spots have been differentially expressed in offspring whose parents have been exposed to Cu compared to offspring whose parents have never been exposed to this metal. After identification, these proteins have been categorized into diverse functional classes related to protein turnover, chaperoning, metabolic process, ion transport or oxidative stress. In conclusion, this study originally provides evidence that an exposure to a pollutant during ELS in a fish can affect the cellular phenotype in the offspring, assessed at the proteomic level. Ongoing researches will investigate the possible role played by epigenetics in this phenotypic inheritance and the adaptive and evolutionary consequences.
