515
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
S. A. Murawski et al. (eds.), Deep Oil Spills,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11605-7_30
Chapter 30
Genetics and Oil: Transcriptomics,
Epigenetics, and Population Genomics
as Tools to Understand Animal Responses
to Exposure Across Different Time Scales
David S. Portnoy, Andrew T. Fields, Justin B. Greer, and Daniel Schlenk
Abstract Exposure to oil causes basic organismal responses rooted in the genetic
architecture of specific species. At the most basic level, exposure leads to immediate
changes in gene expression related to xenobiotic metabolism but also changes in
expression that may lead to impairment of important biological processes and
abnormal development. While many responses amount to transient changes in function, some related to epigenetic gene regulation may be more permanent, persisting
long after cessation of exposure. Further, some epigenetic change may be heritable,
with oil-like responses persisting in later generations that were never directly
exposed. Finally, exposure can create mass-mortality events that change contemporary levels of genomic variation and/or lead to selective regimes that favor individuals that carry allelic variants making them more resistant to the negative effects of
oil exposure. The latter issue may be compounded if low levels of oil remain in the
system leading to chronic exposure and continued selection. This chapter will
review molecular techniques and “omics” tools that have allowed researchers a better understanding of the genetic underpinnings of organismal response to oil exposure, while highlighting future directions for this type of research.
Keywords Gene expression · Gene regulation · Selection · Drift · Sublethal
effects
D. S. Portnoy (*) · A. T. Fields
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Department of Life Sciences,
Corpus Christi, TX, USA
e-mail: david.portnoy@tamucc.edu; andrew.fields@tamucc.edu
J. B. Greer · D. Schlenk
University of California, Department of Environmental Sciences, Riverside, CA, USA
e-mail: jgreer@ucr.edu; dschlenk@ucr.edu
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
S. A. Murawski et al. (eds.), Deep Oil Spills,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11605-7_30
Chapter 30
Genetics and Oil: Transcriptomics,
Epigenetics, and Population Genomics
as Tools to Understand Animal Responses
to Exposure Across Different Time Scales
David S. Portnoy, Andrew T. Fields, Justin B. Greer, and Daniel Schlenk
Abstract Exposure to oil causes basic organismal responses rooted in the genetic
architecture of specific species. At the most basic level, exposure leads to immediate
changes in gene expression related to xenobiotic metabolism but also changes in
expression that may lead to impairment of important biological processes and
abnormal development. While many responses amount to transient changes in function, some related to epigenetic gene regulation may be more permanent, persisting
long after cessation of exposure. Further, some epigenetic change may be heritable,
with oil-like responses persisting in later generations that were never directly
exposed. Finally, exposure can create mass-mortality events that change contemporary levels of genomic variation and/or lead to selective regimes that favor individuals that carry allelic variants making them more resistant to the negative effects of
oil exposure. The latter issue may be compounded if low levels of oil remain in the
system leading to chronic exposure and continued selection. This chapter will
review molecular techniques and “omics” tools that have allowed researchers a better understanding of the genetic underpinnings of organismal response to oil exposure, while highlighting future directions for this type of research.
Keywords Gene expression · Gene regulation · Selection · Drift · Sublethal
effects
D. S. Portnoy (*) · A. T. Fields
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Department of Life Sciences,
Corpus Christi, TX, USA
e-mail: david.portnoy@tamucc.edu; andrew.fields@tamucc.edu
J. B. Greer · D. Schlenk
University of California, Department of Environmental Sciences, Riverside, CA, USA
e-mail: jgreer@ucr.edu; dschlenk@ucr.edu