Abstract
Platinum group element levels have increased in natural aquatic environments in the last few decades, in particular as a consequence of the use of automobile catalytic converters on a global scale. Concentrations of Pt over tens of μg L−1 have been observed in rivers and effluents. This raises questions regarding its possible impacts on aquatic ecosystems, as Pt natural background concentrations are extremely low to undetectable. Primary producers, such as microalgae, are of great ecological importance, as they are at the base of the food web. The purpose of this work was to better understand the impact of Pt on a cellular level for freshwater unicellular algae. Two species with different characteristics, a green alga C. reinhardtii and a diatom N. palea, were studied. The bioaccumulation of Pt as well as its effect on growth were quantified. Moreover, the induction or repression factors of 16 specific genes were determined and allowed for the determination of possible intracellular effects and pathways of Pt. Both species seemed to be experiencing copper deficiency as suggested by inductions of genes linked to copper transporters. This is an indication that Pt might be internalized through the Cu(I) metabolic pathway. Moreover, Pt could possibly be excreted using an efflux pump. Other highlights include a concentration-dependent negative impact of Pt on mitochondrial metabolism for C. reinhardtii which is not observed for N. palea. These findings allowed for a better understanding of some of the possible impacts of Pt on freshwater primary producers, and also lay the foundations for the investigation of pathways for Pt entry at the base of the aquatic food web.
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All data used in this work are available at https://doi.org/10.5683/SP3/I3GMF1.
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Acknowledgements
This work has been carried out with the financial support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Strategic project grant number STPGP 521467 – 18 entitled “Terrestrial-aquatic mobility of technology critical elements in a changing Canadian environment (TAMTeC) in collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada (project number GCXE17S011). O. Hourtané was supported by an EcotoQ scholarship (FRQNT strategic network grant 309016). The authors would like to thank the Functional Ecology & Environment Lab (LEFE UMR 5245 CNRS/INPT/UPS) of ENSAT (Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Toulouse), France, which sequenced the complete genome of the diatom N. palea and allowed us to use it in collaboration. We would also like to thank Pierre-Yves Gourves for the GFAAS analysis, Julie Perreault for technical support in the use of ICP-MS, Vincent Laderriere for performing mineralization tests on diatoms, Jean-Paul Maalouf for his advice on statistical analyses and Scott Hepditch for language assistance in the preparation of this manuscript.
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Claude Fortin, Patrice Gonzalez, and Agnès Feurtet-Mazel contributed to the study conception and design as well as supervision. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Océane Hourtané and Emeric Kochoni. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Océane Hourtané and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Hourtané, O., Gonzalez, P., Feurtet-Mazel, A. et al. Potential cellular targets of platinum in the freshwater microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Nitzschia palea revealed by transcriptomics. Ecotoxicology 33, 281–295 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-024-02746-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-024-02746-y