Expression patterns of metallothionein, cytochrome P450 1A and vitellogenin genes in western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) in response to heavy metals

•Heavy metals regulated metallothionein mRNA expression in mosquitofish.•Heavy metals could induce cytochrome P450 1A mRNA expression in an aryl hydrocarbon receptor-dependent manner in mosquitofish.•Heavy metals influenced the estrogen pathway in mosquitofish.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of three metals (Zn, Cd and Pb) on hepatic metallothionein (MT), cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A) and vitellogenin (Vtg) mRNA expression in the liver of adult female mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) after 1, 3 or 8 d. Both concentration-response and time-course effects of hepatic MT, CYP1A and Vtg at the transcription level were determined by quantitative real-time PCR. The results from this study showed that Zn, Cd and Pb could significantly induced MT, CYP1A and Vtg mRNA expression levels in mosquitofish. In general, this study demonstrated that heavy metals modulate MT, CYP1A and Vtg mRNA expression levels in a metal-, concentration- or time-dependent manner.