Jonathan Sangiovanni
Project
The molecular basis for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons sensitivity in birdsPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are environmental contaminants that stem from the incomplete combustion of organic materials. PAHs are widespread and can result from natural emissions. However, they are also seen released into the environment in large volumes by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels or oil spills. Exposure to PAHs has many adverse health effects. These include embryotoxicity, malformations, cardiotoxicity, DNA damage, and reproductive disorders. Birds are important indicators of the health of an ecosystem, and as such serve as sentinels of the effects of environmental chemicals. Birds are receptors of concern for PAHs, with waterfowl being particularly susceptible to exposure to PAHs through direct contact with contaminated water. The environmental and ecological safety of chemicals is assessed using tests of standardized toxicity tests carried out on a small number of model species. For birds, this includes tests on Japanese quails or chickens. Few other avian models have been developed. The limited scope of regulatory toxicity testing presents a significant challenge for ecological risk assessment, as species can differ significantly in their sensitivity to environmental contaminants. At the molecular level, the variability in the sensitivity of bird species to certain chemical pollutants has been linked to genetic differences in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), a protein found in all higher vertebrates that detects foreign substances. Once detected, this sensor also regulates genes encoding enzymes responsible for the metabolism of these contaminants. PAHs have known interactions with the AHR. Despite this, the relationship between underlying genetic differences between bird species and their predicted sensitivity to chemicals is unclear. Therefore, the overall objectives of this study are to use distinct methods to evaluate the molecular mechanisms underlying the sensitivity of avian species to PAHs. More specifically, the first objective is to explore the interactions between AHR and PAHs using a previously validated in vitro assay for a class of related compounds to determine the potency of different individual PAHs in different bird species. The second objective is to deepen the genetic basis of variability in sensitivity to PAHs using bioinformatics to explore genome-wide effects. Finally, the third objective is to link spatio-temporal gene expression patterns in developing embryos with the movement and distribution of PAHs in the egg contents. This project has important implications for ecological risk assessment by exploring the sensitivity of birds to a significant class of contaminants.
Keywords
oiseaux , Écotoxicologie, Génétique, Transcriptomiques, Hydrocarbures aromatiques polycycliques, Récepteur des hydrocarbures aryliquesPublications
1- Hepatic Transcriptomic Responses to Ethinylestradiol in Embryonic Japanese Quail and Double‐Crested CormorantJeon, Yeon‐Seon, Jonathan Sangiovanni, Emily Boulanger, Doug Crump, Peng Liu, Jessica Ewald, Niladri Basu, Jianguo Xia, Markus Hecker, Jessica Head
2024 Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
2- ExpressAnalyst: A unified platform for RNA-sequencing analysis in non-model species
Liu, Peng, Jessica Ewald, Zhiqiang Pang, Elena Legrand, Yeon Seon Jeon, Jonathan Sangiovanni, Orcun Hacariz, Guangyan Zhou, Jessica A. Head, Niladri Basu, Jianguo Xia
2023 Nature Communications
