Chronic exposure to copper and zinc induces DNA damage in the polychaete Alitta virens and the implications for future toxicity of coastal sites

Ocean acidification buffers the physiological responses of the king ragworm Alitta virens to the common pollutant copper

“…This again is in contrast to the responses previously reported for the mussel Mytilus edulis and the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lewis et al, 2016), further supporting the idea that this A. virens is relatively robust to copper contamination. Our data aligns with the suggestion that A. virens can regulate copper uptake, leading to low tissue concentrations even when exposed to high bioavailable concentrations (Pini et al, 2015;Watson et al, 2018).…”

“…The addition of 0.25 µM copper under ambient seawater pCO2/pH conditions induced a 1.6 fold increase in DNA damage in the coelomocytes of A. virens. Genotoxic responses of A. virens to copper have been previously observed in long-term sediment exposures, where 9 month exposures (to nominal copper concentrations of 70 -575 mg kg -1 ) resulted in significant increases in DNA damage accumulating (Watson et al, 2018). Despite high levels of DNAdamage accumulating worms maintained positive growth over this period, although some mortality was observed (Watson et al, 2018).…”

“…Genotoxic responses of A. virens to copper have been previously observed in long-term sediment exposures, where 9 month exposures (to nominal copper concentrations of 70 -575 mg kg -1 ) resulted in significant increases in DNA damage accumulating (Watson et al, 2018). Despite high levels of DNAdamage accumulating worms maintained positive growth over this period, although some mortality was observed (Watson et al, 2018). Thriving populations of A. virens have been found living in polluted sediments with coelomocyte DNA damage levels averaging ~35% (Lewis and Galloway, 2008) and the response of A. virens to known genotoxins has been demonstrated to be about 50% lower than for two other polychaete species tested.…”

“…Of particular relevance for coastal species is the potential for OA to alter the bioavailability and toxicity of certain pollutants (Roberts et al, 2013). Metals, in particular copper, continue to be some of the most wide-spread environmental contaminants, found at elevated concentrations in the majority of estuarine and coastal environments (compared to open ocean) as a result of local mining (past or present), road run-off, effluent discharges use in antifouling paints and nanoparticles, with evidence that concentrations in sediments are currently increasing (Watson et al, 2018). Copper can be found in coastal waters at concentrations ranging from low levels of 0.004 µM (Jones and Bolam, 2007) to much higher levels of 1.61 µM (Bryan and Gibbs, 1983).…”

Trophic upgrading of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids by polychaetes: a stable isotope approach using Alitta virens

“…Alitta virens (formerly Nereis (Neanthes) virens), one of the dominant errant polychaetes found in the Northern Hemisphere and a useful developmental biology study organism (Kozin and Kostyuchenko 2015;Franz-Odendaal and Hockman 2019), is commonly found in intertidal ecosystems (Kristensen 1984a) and is one of the most important intertidal bioturbators, especially in mudflat systems (Herringshaw et al 2010) where it plays vital roles in maintaining biodiversity (Tita et al 2000;McLenaghan et al 2011;Lacoste et al 2018), sediment structure (Du Clos et al 2013), nutrient cycling (Kristensen et al 1985) and in the accumulation and transfer of pollutants through estuarine food webs (Pini et al 2015;Watson et al 2018). Many populations are under stress from bait collection activities (Olive 1993;Watson et al 2017) that has subsequently driven interest in their aquaculture (Olive 1999).…”