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Background: Genomic and transcriptomic approaches have the potential for unveiling the genome-wide response to environmental perturbations. The abundance of the catadromous European eel (Anguilla anguilla) stock has been declining since the 1980s probably due to a combination of anthropogenic and climatic factors. In this paper, we explore the transcriptomic dynamics between individuals from high (river Tiber, Italy) and low pollution (lake Bolsena, Italy) environments, which were measured for 36 PCBs, several organochlorine pesticides and brominated flame retardants and nine metals., Results: To this end, we first (i) updated the European eel transcriptome using deep sequencing data with a total of 640,040 reads assembled into 44,896 contigs (Eeelbase release 2.0), and (ii) developed a transcriptomic platform for global gene expression profiling in the critically endangered European eel of about 15,000 annotated contigs, which was applied to detect differentially expressed genes between polluted sites. Several detoxification genes related to metabolism of pollutants were upregulated in the highly polluted site, including genes that take part in phase I of the xenobiotic metabolism (CYP3A), phase II (glutathione-S-transferase) and oxidative stress (glutathione peroxidase). In addition, key genes in the mitochondrial respiratory chain and oxidative phosphorylation were down-regulated at the Tiber site relative to the Bolsena site., Conclusions: Together with the induced high expression of detoxification genes, the suggested lowered expression of genes supposedly involved in metabolism suggests that pollution may also be associated with decreased respiratory and energy production.

The stocks of the European eel Anguilla anguilla are in decline and there is an increasing awareness that poor health status due to contaminants and/or diseases might be a key element in this decline and might be a hindrance to recovery. Many countries have started compiling data on the health status of eels in their water bodies. Objectives for these monitoring actions are diverse and there is a large amount of information collected by EU member countries. However, this information is widely scattered over Europe in agencies, institutes or universities. As there is a growing need to collect and report on data on the health status of the eel on international level, the Joint EIFAC/ICES Working Group on Eels initiated in September 2007 the set up of an European Eel Quality Database to collect recent data of contaminants and diseases over the distribution area of the eel. This paper describes the aim, the set up and future development of the database in order to give it greater publicity and to call on scientists or managers to submit data on eel health status. The database represents now the first comprehensive pan-European compilation of eel health data, including data from over 10,000 eels from approximately 1,200 sites over 14 countries. Preliminary work has indicated a number of shortcomings and future developments will be needed. Guaranteeing further development of the database, harmonisation of methods, quality assurance, and setting up harmonised eel monitoring strategies over Europe will be a great challenge and will need pan-European cooperative work.

The pigmentation development process of glass eels Anguilla anguilla from stage VB to VIA3 was modelled by gamma cumulative functions. These functions varied with respect to the factors temperature and salinity whose effects were adjusted by beta functions. Temperature was shown to accelerate pigmentation, while salinity acted as a secondary factor slowing down the pigmentation. The model fits the development of 15 samples kept at various temperatures and salinities in the Vilaine River, as well as samples monitored at other dates and places in Europe. It allows the prediction of the duration of estuarine residency for glass eels, in winter and spring, in the Atlantic estuaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]