Stress Expression by the Maternally Transferred Xenobiotic Pollutants in the Reproductive Outputs of the Pacific Oyster, Crassostrea gigas

We previously pointed out that the polluted sediment elutriate manifestly affected the early events of reproductive outputs in the Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas. A serial dilution of priority xenobiotic sediment elutriates determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) were exposed to gametes of the oyster with different stress burdens to detail the maternal stress transfer to its reproductive outputs. There was an apparent critical concentration over which survival and morphogenesis were significantly affected with more profound damage in morphogenesis. The critical concentration which drives mortality and abnormal morphogenesis of the larvae corresponded to a dilution between 10 and 20% of our elutriate. The adverse effects of the early lives by the xenobiotic exposure over the critical concentration were magnified by the maternal stress from the exposed benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), one of the priority polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during the maturation condition. These results indicate that maternal transfer of the xenobiotic compounds from oysters living in the contaminated location might represent a significant adverse effect to their larval population of wild seeds.