Dataset for: Adverse effects induced by chronic gamma irradiation in progeny of adult fish not affecting parental reproductive performance

Multigenerational studies has become of great interest in ecotoxicology since the consequence of parental exposure to contaminants on offspring generations was established in situ or in laboratory conditions. This study mainly examined the chronic effects of external Cs-137 gamma irradiation exposure at 4 dose rates (control, 0.5, 5 and 50 mGy h-1) on adult zebrafish (F0) exposed for 10 days and its progeny (F1) exposed or unexposed for 4/5 days. The main endpoints investigated included parental reproductive performance, embryo-larval survival, DNA alterations and ROS production in F0 and F1. No effects on reproductive success, fecundity or egg fertilization rate were observed. However, drastic effects were observed on F1 exposed to 50 mGy h-1, resulting in a mortality rate of 100%. The drastic effects were also observed when the progeny was not irradiated. It was demonstrated that the sensitivity of the embryos was mainly due to parental irradiation. Moreover, these drastic effects induced by adult irradiation disappeared over time when 10 d- irradiated adults were placed in a non-irradiated condition. DNA alterations in larvae were observed for the three dose rates, and an increase of ROS production was also shown for the two lowest dose rates. This study improves our understanding of the consequences of parental exposure conditions to the progeny. Furthermore, it provides an incentive to take transmitted generational effects into account in ecological risk assessments.