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. 2025 Jun 19;15(12):1807.
doi: 10.3390/ani15121807.

Transcriptomic Analysis of Tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) Exposed to Trichlorfon-Induced Toxicity

Hallana Cristina Menezes da Silva  1 , Igor Kelvyn Cavalcante Lobo  2 , André Gentil da Silva  3 , Ana Lúcia Silva Gomes  4 , Wallice Paxiúba Duncan  5 , Juliana Costa Silva  6 , Fabrício M Lopes  7 , Roberto Ferreira Artoni  8 , Daniele Aparecida Matoso  9
Affiliations

Transcriptomic Analysis of Tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) Exposed to Trichlorfon-Induced Toxicity

Hallana Cristina Menezes da Silva et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

Trichlorfon is an antiparasitic agent widely used to control pests and parasites in farmed fish. Tambaqui (C. macropomum) is the most commercially important characid species farmed in the Amazon region. Trichlorfon exposure is known to cause physiological damage in fish due to its organophosphate nature. In this study, we used RNA-Seq to investigate the hepatic response of tambaqui following exposure to 0.435 mg/L of trichlorfon. The analysis revealed activation of several metabolic pathways, particularly those related to tumor processes, immune responses, and apoptosis. Additionally, we identified upregulation of solute carrier (SLC) genes, which may facilitate trichlorfon entry into hepatocytes. These findings enhance our understanding of fish responses to antiparasitic agents and support further research into the molecular impacts of organophosphate compounds in aquaculture species.

Keywords: C. macropomum; fresh water; toxicology; trichlorfon.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sample distribution for transcriptome analysis. C0: control condition; C2: 50% of LC50–96h concentration (0.435 mg/L) of trichlorfon.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Principal component analysis (A), Volcano plot of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) analyzed (B), and heatmap of the selected DEGs (C). (A) Principal component analysis (PCA) of the experimental (yellow) and control (blue) conditions. (B) Volcano plot demonstrating the RNA-Seq-mapped differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The non-significant genes are indicated in gray, while the genes that demonstrated significance in the Log2 Fold Change value are shown in green. The genes that exhibited significance in the p-values are represented in blue, and the genes that demonstrated significance in both the p-values and the Log2 Fold Change values are indicated in red. (C) A heatmap of the genes most affected by Trichlorfon exposure in terms of differential expression. The untreated control samples are represented by F01, F02, and F03, which are displayed in pink. The samples exposed to Trichlorfon (50% of LC50–96h—0.435 mg/L) are represented by F13, F14, and F15, which are displayed in blue.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Gene Ontology graph (GO). (A) Map of enriched functions and associated genes in tambaqui liver cells exposed to Trichlorfon. (B) A scheme of the enriched functions and genes associated with their corresponding Log2 Fold Change values. Genes: abcb6a—ATP-binding ATP cassete, sub Family B (MDR/TAP), member 6a; slc6a22.1—solute-carrier Family 6 member 22, tandem duplicate 1; slc27a1b—solute-carrier family 27 member 1b; slc7a11—solute-carrier family 7 member 11; slc22a16—solute-carrier family 22 member 16; prelid3b—PRELI domain containing 3B; wnk4b—WNK lysine deficient protein kinase 4b; slc13a5a—solute-carrier family 13 member 5a; slc20a1a—solute-carrier family 20 member 1a; slc25a38a—solute-carrier family 25 member 38a. The genes zgc:162608 e zgc:165507 were uncharacterized.
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References

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