Journal
BULLETIN OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION AND TOXICOLOGY
Volume 99, Issue 6, Pages 668-672Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00128-017-2202-7
Keywords
Zebra finch; Methylmercury; Tolerance; Resistance; Oxidative stress
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Funding
- NSF [IOS-1257590]
- Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems
- Direct For Biological Sciences [1257590] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Songbirds exposed to methylmercury (MeHg) often exhibit reduced reproductive success and cognitive abilities. To better understand whether oxidative stress plays a role, we dosed zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) with a contaminated (1.2 ppm MeHg-cysteine) or control diet for their entire lives, including during development in the egg. Levels of antioxidant enzymes [superoxide dismutase (SOD1 and SOD2)], oxidative damage (4-hydroxynonenal; 4-HNE), and antioxidant transcription factors [nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2; Nrf2] were measured in the liver and pectoralis muscle of adults. MeHg treatment did not affect levels of 4-HNE or liver SOD2 or Nrf2. Birds in the MeHg treatment differed significantly from controls in pectoralis SOD1 and Nrf2, and tended to differ in liver SOD1 and pectoralis SOD2; however, we detected no overall pattern of effect of MeHg on oxidative status in dosed finches. We suspect that this is a consequence of the differential survival of MeHg-tolerant birds.
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