ArticleThe Science of the total environment2016
Global DNA methylation loss associated with mercury contamination and aging in the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis).
Article in The Science of the total environment, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Epigenetic Aging in Brain Tissue of the Self-Fertilizing Vertebrate,Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Genome-Wide DNA Methylation Patterns Predict Age in the Zebra Shark (Stegostoma tigrinum) and Provide Insight Into the Evolution of Vertebrate Aging.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- Comparative assessment of blood mercury in American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) from Coastal North Carolina and Florida.Ecotoxicology (London, England) · 2022Article
- Intergenerational Patterns of DNA Methylation inToxics · 2021Article
- Article
- Freshwater aquatic reptiles (Testudines and Crocodylia) as biomonitor models in assessing environmental contamination by inorganic elements and the main analytical techniques used: a review.Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2021Review
- Examining maternal and environmental transfer of mercury into American alligator eggs.Ecotoxicology and environmental safety · 2020Article
- The untapped potential of reptile biodiversity for understanding how and why animals age.Functional ecology · 2020Article
- Examining toxic trace element exposure in American alligators.Environment international · 2019Article
- Epigenetic profiling to environmental stressors in model and non-model organisms: Ecotoxicology perspective.Environmental health and toxicology · 2018Article
- Evaluating mercury concentrations and body condition in American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR), Florida.The Science of the total environment · 2017Article
- Prenatal Exposure to Mercury: Associations with Global DNA Methylation and Hydroxymethylation in Cord Blood and in Childhood.Environmental health perspectives · 2017Article
- Trace element biodistribution in the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis).Chemosphere · 2017Article
- Perfluorinated alkyl acids in plasma of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) from Florida and South Carolina.Environmental toxicology and chemistry · 2017Article
- Measuring Animal Age with DNA Methylation: From Humans to Wild Animals.Frontiers in genetics · 2017Review
- Integrative and comparative reproductive biology: From alligators to xenobiotics.General and comparative endocrinology · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Mercury is a widespread environmental contaminant with exposures eliciting a well-documented catalog of adverse effects. Yet, knowledge regarding the underlying mechanisms by which mercury exposures are translated into biological effects remains incomplete. DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification that is sensitive to environmental cues, and alterations in DNA methylation at the global level are associated with a variety of diseases. Using a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry-based (LC-MS/MS) approach, global DNA methylation levels were measured in red blood cells of 144 wild American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) from 6 sites with variable levels of mercury contamination across Florida's north-south axis. Variation in mercury concentrations measured in whole blood was highly associated with location, allowing the comparison of global DNA methylation levels across different "treatments" of mercury. Global DNA methylation in alligators across all locations was weakly associated with increased mercury exposure. However, a much more robust relationship was observed in those animals sampled from locations more highly contaminated with mercury. Also, similar to other vertebrates, global DNA methylation appears to decline with age in alligators. The relationship between age-associated loss of global DNA methylation and varying mercury exposures was examined to reveal a potential interaction. These findings demonstrate that global DNA methylation levels are associated with mercury exposure, and give insights into interactions between contaminants, aging, and epigenetics.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.