Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The estrogen receptor in the freshwater pulmonate gastropod Radix balthica: Investigating changing activity levels from exposure to 17α -ethinylestradiol

Börjesson, Lina LU (2012) MVEK02 20121
Studies in Environmental Science
Abstract
Endocrine disruption from synthetic human estrogens in molluscs has not been investigated as closely as in vertebrates. This has led to a missing piece in the important puzzle investigating the differences in effects between diverse animal groups after exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals, EDCs. The Mollusca is one of the largest phyla in the world and the different species can be found in many aquatic habitats. Investigations of their sensitivity to synthetic substances discharged by humans is therefore of potentially high interest. 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) is the active compound in human contraceptives and has been found in the effluents from wastewater treatment plants in concentrations that affect fish and now recently also... (More)
Endocrine disruption from synthetic human estrogens in molluscs has not been investigated as closely as in vertebrates. This has led to a missing piece in the important puzzle investigating the differences in effects between diverse animal groups after exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals, EDCs. The Mollusca is one of the largest phyla in the world and the different species can be found in many aquatic habitats. Investigations of their sensitivity to synthetic substances discharged by humans is therefore of potentially high interest. 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) is the active compound in human contraceptives and has been found in the effluents from wastewater treatment plants in concentrations that affect fish and now recently also molluscs. This study examined the estrogen receptor (ER) gene of the freshwater gastropod (snail) mollusc Radix balthica, to see if the gene is transcribed differently when exposed to EE2. The proposed hypothesis is that the ER gene is activated by EE2 and increases ER gene transcription levels in exposed snails compared with unexposed snails. The results from the qRT-PCR analysis show no significant effect on the receptor gene transcription levels after 24 hours exposure. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Börjesson, Lina LU
supervisor
organization
course
MVEK02 20121
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
language
English
id
3408900
date added to LUP
2013-01-25 13:23:00
date last changed
2013-01-25 13:23:00
@misc{3408900,
  abstract     = {{Endocrine disruption from synthetic human estrogens in molluscs has not been investigated as closely as in vertebrates. This has led to a missing piece in the important puzzle investigating the differences in effects between diverse animal groups after exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals, EDCs. The Mollusca is one of the largest phyla in the world and the different species can be found in many aquatic habitats. Investigations of their sensitivity to synthetic substances discharged by humans is therefore of potentially high interest. 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) is the active compound in human contraceptives and has been found in the effluents from wastewater treatment plants in concentrations that affect fish and now recently also molluscs. This study examined the estrogen receptor (ER) gene of the freshwater gastropod (snail) mollusc Radix balthica, to see if the gene is transcribed differently when exposed to EE2. The proposed hypothesis is that the ER gene is activated by EE2 and increases ER gene transcription levels in exposed snails compared with unexposed snails. The results from the qRT-PCR analysis show no significant effect on the receptor gene transcription levels after 24 hours exposure.}},
  author       = {{Börjesson, Lina}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The estrogen receptor in the freshwater pulmonate gastropod Radix balthica: Investigating changing activity levels from exposure to 17α -ethinylestradiol}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}