Multi- and transcriptomic changes of chronic exposure to bisphenol A reveals reproductive toxicity in male zebrafish

Bisphenol A (BPA) is considered to be a threat to marine organisms owning to its widespread usage and potential aquatic toxicity. However, the reproductive toxicity of BPA to transgenerational inheritance in aquatic organisms is still unclarified. In this study, the morphological, histological, and transgenerational changes by BPA in zebrafish testis were investigated. Results showed that BPA caused abnormities in sperm number, activity, and fertility rate. Testicular transcriptional alterations detected by RNA-seq identified 1940 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) after BPA exposure, of which 392 were upregulated and 1548 were downregulated. Gene Ontology analysis showed that acrosin binding, binding of sperm to zona pellucida, and positive regulation of acrosome reaction were significantly enriched in BPA-induced DEGs. Pathway analysis indicated that cell adhesion molecules, steroid hormone biosynthesis and fatty acid biosynthesis, elongation, and metabolism were remarkably changed after BPA treatment. Thus, we deduce here that multi- and transcriptomic changes of chronic exposure to BPA reveals reproductive toxicity in male zebrafish.