First genotoxicity study of Paraná river water from Argentina using cells from the clam Corbicula fluminea (Veneroida Corbiculidae) and Chinese hamster (Cricetulus griseus Rodentia, Cricetidae) K1 cells in the comet assay

Abstract

High concentrations of xenobiotics from urban and industrial wastes have contributed to the contamination of many aquatic environments. We used the comet assay to evaluate the genotoxic potential of water collected from the River Paraná, which receives a great deal of waste, at three points (Puerto Piray, Eldorado and Montecarlo) in the Misiones Province of Argentina. The in vivo comet assay used 40 freshwater clams (Corbicula fluminea) while the in vitro comet assay used Chinese hamster (Cricetulus griseus) K1 cell (CHO-K1) cultures with the mutagen ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) as the positive control and phosphate buffered saline (PBS) as the negative control. Both assays showed statistically significant differences between the three sampling sites in relation to the negative control, the results of this preliminary study indicating that at these three sites water from the Paraná River presents genotoxic potential.

Micronucleus study of the quality and mutagenicity of surface water from a semi-arid region

“…High concentrations of xenobiotics from urban, agricultural and industrial wastes have contributed to increased genotoxic activity in aquatic environments. 29,30 One of the most troublesome problems is the persistence of heavy metals, leading to ecosystem instability. They are highly toxic and, in contrast to organic compounds, are not biodegradable.…”

“…Differences may also have been due to different DNA damage responses by different cell types used in each assay. 30,64 Additionally, for the assay using a plant, phytotoxicity of the absorbed metal is considered complex, depending on factors such as metal concentration and speciation, oxidation state, concentration, duration of exposure and complex hyperaccumulation mechanisms. 65,66 The two types of micronuclei tests used in this study demonstrate the capacity of these Lucrecia dam water samples to induce chromosome breakage and/or dysfunction of the mitotic apparatus.…”

Genotoxic Potential of the Insecticide Imidacloprid in a Non-Target Organism (<i>Oreochromis niloticus</i>-Pisces)

“…The alkaline comet assay was performed as described by Collins (2004) with the modifications suggested by Caffetti et al (2008) [15] [16]. The blood was obtained from the fish as described above and 3 µL aliquots were diluted in 1 mL of PBS (137 mM NaCl, 2.68 mM KCl, 8 mM HNa 2 PO 4 ; H 2 KPO 4 1.47 mM) to obtain the cell suspension.…”

“…The nucleoids were visually classified according to fragment migration as undamaged (class 0), slightly damaged (class 1), more damaged (class 2) and highly damaged (class 3) per Caffetti et al (2008) [16]. This record is linearly related to the frequency of DNA strand breaks in the cell population in a study on a wide range of damage.…”