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Naturally occurring progesterone in loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda L.): A major steroid precursor of environmental androgens
Author(s) -
Carson John D.,
Jenkins Ronald L.,
Wilson Elizabeth M.,
Howell W. Mike,
Moore Ray
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1897/07-515.1
Subject(s) - androstenedione , paper mill , effluent , loblolly pine , biology , chemistry , steroid , androgen , botany , endocrinology , pinus <genus> , hormone , environmental science , environmental engineering
Progesterone, androstenedione, and androstadienedione were previously identified in the water and sediment of the Fenholloway River (Taylor County, FL, USA), a river that contains populations of masculinized female mosquitofish downstream of a paper mill, at levels higher than those in the nearby Spring Creek. Plant sterols, such as β‐sitosterol in mill effluent derived from pine tree pulp, were suggested to be metabolized by bacteria to progesterone and androgens to account for the masculinization phenomenon. The current study made use of standard solid‐phase methanol extraction procedures, high‐performance liquid chromatography, liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry, and a cell‐based, androgen‐receptor transcription assay to determine naturally occurring progesterone levels in mature pine trees. Progesterone concentrations in the loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda L.) were 49.34 ± 4.1 nmol/g dry mature wood (15.5 ± 1.29 μg/g), 12.26 ± 1.78 nmol/g pine needles (3.85 ± 0.56 μg/g), and 3.81 ± 0.36 nmol/g pine bark (1.19 ± 0.11 μg/g). The results suggest that naturally occurring progesterone from pine wood pulp contributes to increased progesterone levels downstream of paper mill effluent discharges and may serve as the natural steroid precursor for environmental androgen production that causes masculinization of female mosquitofish.