A Feedback Mechanism to Control Apoptosis Occurs in the Digestive Gland of the Oyster Crassostrea gigas Exposed to the Paralytic Shellfish Toxins Producer Alexandrium catenella

To better understand the effect of Paralytic Shellfish Toxins (PSTs) accumulation in the digestive gland of the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, we experimentally exposed individual oysters for 48 h to a PSTs producer, the dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella. In comparison to the effect of the non-toxic Alexandrium tamarense, on the eight apoptotic related genes tested, Bax and BI.1 were significantly upregulated in oysters exposed 48 h to A. catenella. Among the five detoxification related genes tested, the expression of cytochrome P450 (CYP1A) was shown to be correlated with toxin concentration in the digestive gland of oysters exposed to the toxic dinoflagellate. Beside this, we observed a significant increase in ROS production, a decrease in caspase-3/7 activity and normal percentage of apoptotic cells in this tissue. Taken together, these results suggest a feedback mechanism, which may occur in the digestive gland where BI.1 could play a key role in preventing the induction of apoptosis by PSTs. Moreover, the expression of CYP1A, Bax and BI.1 were found to be significantly correlated to the occurrence of natural toxic events, suggesting that the expression of these genes together could be used as biomarker to assess the biological responses of oysters to stress caused by PSTs.