The Genypterus genus contains native species involved in the aquaculture diversification program in northern Chile. One of the main species is the red cusk-eel (Genypterus chilensis), with an established technology for aquaculture production. In species that are relevant to fisheries and aquaculture, environmental factors could impact the health of the fish through stress, damage, and metabolic impact in several tissues, including the intestine. In this study, we determine the effect of microplastic (polyethylene) consumption on the intestinal coding and non-coding transcriptional response by RNA-seq. Control and Microplastic groups were maintained for one month (absence vs polyethylene consumption) and sampled for RNA-seq analysis on the intestine. We determine differential expression of coding and long non-coding RNAs with Deseq2 and determine the enriched processes on the coding genes differentially expressed by microplastics in the intestine.
The consumption of microplastics induces a transcriptional response in the intestine, with 266 differentially expressed genes. Of these, 179 were downregulated and 87 were upregulated in the microplastic group, with several long non-coding RNAs also showing differential expression. The microplastic consumption induces in the intestine the expression of genes associated with the Oxidation-reduction, Response to toxic substances, Cellular detoxification, and ATP metabolic process, among others. These results showed that chronic polyethylene consumption generates an active transcriptional response oriented to cell detoxification and oxidative stress response at the intestinal level, including coding and long non-coding RNA response. These results showed that chronic consumption of microplastics could impact the health of commercially relevant species from Genypterus genus, information to consider in the context of polluted oceans and sea aquaculture production. Funding: ANID FONDECYT Inicio 11230153