Earthworm biomarkers of pesticide contamination: Current status and perspectives

Rodríguez-Castellanos, Laura; Sánchez-Hernández, Juan C.

doi:10.1584/jpestics.r07-14

Cited by 69 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…The activity of these enzymes, as well as that of acetylcholine esterases, catalases and superoxide dismutases, has been investigated as useful biomarkers of exposure to contaminants such as pesticides, PAHs and heavy metals. 109,110) Biochemical approaches including fractionation of tissue homogenates, followed by chromatographic separation and spectrophotometric analyses are generally taken to investigate these enzymes; however, direct evidence as to the contribution of characterized enzyme(s) to pesticide metabolism has scarcely been reported. Recently, gene analysis using expressed sequence tags (EST; LumbriBase, http:// www.earthworms.org/) has been applied to earthworms.…”

Section: Relevant Enzymesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toxicity, bioaccumulation and metabolism of pesticides in the earthworm

Katagi

Ose

2015

Journal of Pesticide Science

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The toxic effects of pesticides on earthworms, one of the most important bioindicators in the terrestrial environment, are closely related to their body burden determined by uptake, metabolism and excretion processes. Not only the passive diffusion via the outer skin from a dissolved fraction of pesticide but also the ingestion of contaminated soil and food governs the uptake process, with each contribution controlled by either the hydrophobicity of the pesticide or the soil organic matter. Although the available information is limited, earthworms are likely to metabolize pesticides via hydrolysis and oxidation (Phase I) followed by conjugation (Phase II), and low bioaccumulation is observed as a result for most pesticides. The acute toxicity in the soil exposure can be partly explained by the dissolved fraction of pesticide in pore water, but the contribution of dietary uptake and metabolism should be further studied to correctly evaluate pesticide toxicity.

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Section: Relevant Enzymesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toxicity, bioaccumulation and metabolism of pesticides in the earthworm

Katagi

Ose

2015

Journal of Pesticide Science

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“…Some authors (Aamodt et al, 2007;Rault et al, 2008;and Collange et al, 2010), have indicated that cholinesterase activity usually shows slow recovery rates until it reaches normal levels when exposed to organophosphates. This CbE activity in intestinal tissue of L. terrestris remains inhibited for a long period of time, more than 1-mo, after applying organophosphorus (González et al, 2010); that is, enzymatic activity is not recovered either by the spontaneous reactivation of the phosphorylated enzyme by the organophosphorus pesticide (Rodríguez-Castellanos and Sanchez-Hernandez, 2007) or the synthesis of the new enzyme during this inhibition period. This slow activity allows the stability of this response to organophosphorus pesticides and makes it a useful enzyme for biochemical assessment in monitoring exposure to agrochemicals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of earthworms as a pesticide exposure indicator in soils under conventional and organic management

Araneda¹,

Undurraga

Lopez³

et al. 2016

Chilean J. Agric. Res.

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The intensive use of agricultural soils reveals the massive application of agrochemicals. There is no follow-up of the presence of pesticide residues in soil or their toxic effects on organisms that are beneficial for agrosystems, such as earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris L.) The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of pesticides used in horticultural orchards on earthworms, and the use of earthworms as an indicator through carboxylesterase (CbE) activity, which is an enzyme involved in the detoxification metabolism of organophosphorus, carbamates, and pyrethroids. Eight individuals were place in each polyethylene container and the container were buried under the soil surface in two apple orchards, one under organic management and the other under conventional management. The experiment was carried out in triplicate. A control treatment was conducted in the laboratory. The experiment was repeated in autumn, winter, spring, and summer of the 2014-2015 study period. Three internal gut tissues of the earthworm were measured for CbE activity in the laboratory. Results showed higher CbE activity in the crop-gizzard of the control treatment with 14.22 ± 1.00 µmol min -1 mg -1 in winter; the lowest activity was recorded in soil under conventional management in summer with 6.15 ± 2.77 µmol min -1 mg -1 (p ≤ 0.05). There was a seasonal difference in enzymatic activity that was higher in winter and autumn with 14.22 and 13.93 µmol min -1 mg -1, respectively, and lower in summer and spring with 6.15 and 6.31 µmol min -1 mg -1 (p ≤ 0.05), respectively; enzymatic activity was associated with higher pesticide application. It can be concluded that CbE activity is sensitive to the inhibitory action of pesticides and can therefore be used as a biological indicator of agrochemicals.

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“…They are considered useful tools in soil monitoring and assessment as an early warning of adverse ecological effects [52, 53]. This has increased the interest in the study of earthworm biological responses to pollutants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metallothionein Induction in the Coelomic Fluid of the EarthwormLumbricus terrestrisfollowing Heavy Metal Exposure: A Short Report

Calisi

Lionetto

Lorenzis

et al. 2014

BioMed Research International

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Earthworms are useful bioindicator organisms for soil biomonitoring. Recently the use of pollution biomarkers in earthworms has been increasingly investigated for soil monitoring and assessment. Earthworm coelomic fluid is particularly interesting from a toxicological perspective, because it is responsible for pollutant disposition and tissue distribution to the whole organism. The aim of the present work was to study the effect of heavy metal exposure on metallothionein (Mt) induction in the coelomic fluid of Lumbricus terrestris in view of future use as sensitive biomarker suitable for application to metal polluted soil monitoring and assessment. L. terrestris coelomic fluid showed a detectable Mt concentration of about 4.0 ± 0.6 μg/mL (mean ± SEM, n = 10) in basal physiological condition. When the animals were exposed to CuSO4 or CdCl2 or to a mixture of the two metals in OECD soils for 72 h, the Mt specific concentration significantly (P < 0.001) increased. The Mt response in the coelomic fluid perfectly reflected the commonly used Mt response in the whole organism when the two responses were compared on the same specimens. These findings indicate the suitability of Mt determination in L. terrestris coelomic fluid as a sensitive biomarker for application to metal polluted soil monitoring and assessment.

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Earthworm biomarkers of pesticide contamination: Current status and perspectives

Cited by 69 publications

References 97 publications

Toxicity, bioaccumulation and metabolism of pesticides in the earthworm

Toxicity, bioaccumulation and metabolism of pesticides in the earthworm

Use of earthworms as a pesticide exposure indicator in soils under conventional and organic management

Metallothionein Induction in the Coelomic Fluid of the EarthwormLumbricus terrestrisfollowing Heavy Metal Exposure: A Short Report

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