Genes are Differentially Expressed at Transcriptional Level of Neocaridina denticulata Following Short-Term Exposure to Nonylphenol

To assess the toxicity of nonylphenol towards aquatic crustaceans, Neocaridina denticulata were exposed short-term to sublethal concentration (0.001–0.5 mg/L). Following treatment, differentially expressed genes were identified using suppression subtractive hybridization on samples prepared from whole specimens. There were 20 differentially expressed sequence tags that corresponded to known genes and could be divided into six functional classes: defence, translation, metabolism, ribosomal gene expression, respiration, and genes involved in the stress response. Using semi-quantitative RT–PCR, we found that 14 of the differentially expressed sequence tags significantly responded to nonylphenol, including six at a nominal concentration of 0.01 mg/L; among them, 12 genes were down-regulated. These results suggest that under non-lethal concentrations of nonylphenol, the polluted aquatic environment may still present a potential risk to N. denticulata .