Improved tolerance of metals in contaminated oyster larvae

•Resistance of oyster offspring to Cu and Zn was correlated with tissue metal concentration in adults.•Tissue concentration-dependent maternal transfer of Cu and Zn from oyster adults to eggs.•Metallothionein levels in eggs were related to concentrations of maternally transferred metals.•High basal level of MT synthesis in eggs may lead to enhanced metal tolerance of offspring.

Environmental stress experienced by parents may make a significant difference in the response of their offspring. However, relevant studies on marine bivalves are very limited especially for the field populations. In the present study, we examined the relative metal tolerance of offspring produced by four natural populations of oyster Crassostrea sikamea that were contaminated by metals to different degrees. We demonstrated that the resistance of oyster offspring to copper and zinc was correlated with the level of metal pollution experienced by the parent oysters. Specifically, the oyster embryo and larvae produced by adult oysters from contaminated sites had a much higher tolerance to metal stress than those from the reference sites. Furthermore, tissue concentration-dependent maternal transfer of Cu and Zn was found in this study, and the metallothionein concentrations in eggs were positively related to the total concentrations of maternally transferred Cu and Zn. Thus, the maternally transferred metals inducing high level of MT synthesis in eggs was one of the possible mechanisms responsible for the enhanced metal tolerance of oyster embryos and larvae from heavily contaminated sites. We concluded that environmental exposure history of adult oysters significantly influenced the ability of their offspring to cope with metal stress. Our findings offered the field evidence of the possible transfer of metal tolerance from adults to offspring in marine bivalves.