Proteomic and metabolomic analysis on the toxicological effects of Benzo[a]pyrene in pearl oyster Pinctada martensii

• The high concentration of BaP (10 μg/L) mainly caused disturbances in osmotic regulation and energy metabolism in the digestive gland of P. martensii.
• Both concentrations of BaP (1 and 10 μg/L) induced significant proteome responses in energy metabolism, cytoskeleton, cell injury, oxidative stress and signal transduction.

Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is one of the typical toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are widely present in marine environment. BaP has diverse toxic effects, including teratogenic, carcinogenic, mutagenic effects and so on, in various organisms. In this work, we focused on the differential proteomic and metabolomic responses in the digestive gland of pearl oyster Pinctada martensii exposed to two doses of BaP (1 and 10 μg/L). Metabolic responses revealed that the high dose of BaP (10 μg/L) mainly caused disturbances in osmotic regulation and energy metabolism in the digestive gland. Proteomic responses indicated that both doses of BaP induced disturbances in energy metabolism, cytoskeleton, cell injury, oxidative stress and signal transduction based on the differential proteomic biomarkers. Overall, these results demonstrated a number of potential biomarkers that were characterized by an integrated proteomic and metabolomic approach and provided a useful insight into the toxicological effects on pearl oyster P. martensii.