Paternal bisphenol A exposure alters craniofacial cartilage development in rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus) descendants

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a recognized estrogenic endocrine disruptor that poses a threat to the reproductive health of fish. However, it remains unclear whether and how paternal BPA exposure can lead to developmental toxicity in offspring. To explore the potential paternal BPA exposure impacts on craniofacial cartilage growth in offspring, male rare minnows were subjected to BPA and subsequently mated with normal females to produce progeny. Our results demonstrated that paternal BPA exposure resulted in increased malformation and delayed craniofacial cartilage development in the F1 offspring. Furthermore, BPA exposure led to differential expression of 28 miRNAs in paternal sperm in F0 generation (13 upregulated and 15 downregulated), among which 7 miRNAs were involved in the regulation of bone development. BPA also downregulated the expression of bmp2a and Runx1 during F1 embryonic development. The inhibited bmp2a expression might derive from BPA's stimulation of one miRNA, aca-miR-16a-5P, due to bmp2a being one of its target genes. Notably, paternal BPA exposure did not affect craniofacial cartilage development or gonadal development in the F2 generation. Overall, our study sheds light on the molecular mechanisms underlying the impact of paternal BPA exposure on facial chondrogenesis in offspring and provides theoretical support for the ecological protection of fish populations.