Development of omic biomarkers for Fathead minnow larva (Pimephales promelas) exposed to ethinyl estradiol [mRNA]

This work aimed to expand the panel of gene expression-based biomarkers to include estrogens, to identify training strategies that maximize the range of applicable concentrations, and to evaluate the potential for mRNA and two classes of small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs), microRNA (miRNA) and piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA), as biomarkers. mRNA reads from fathead minnow (FHM) larvae (48 h post-hatch) exposed for 48 h to a range of ethinyl estradiol concentrations (0, 0.12, 1.2, 2.5, 5.0 or 10 ng EE2/l) were mapped against 47K known FHM mRNA transcripts, followed by identification of differentially expressed miRNAs or piRNAs.