Estuarine fish assemblages present a species‐specific difference in the multixenobiotics resistance activity

Abstract

We investigated the activity of the multixenobiotic resistance (MXR) phenotype, a biological defense system in aquatic organisms, in the fish assemblages of two tropical estuaries with different degrees of environmental impacts, the Paraiba River and Mamanguape River Estuaries. The aim of this work was to compare the activity of the MXR phenotype of different fishes to test the hypothesis that each species has an inherent activity level and to use this activity as a bioindicator of aquatic contamination. We assessed the MXR activity of the gills, using rhodamine B (RB) accumulation assay. The results demonstrated a species-specific difference in the MXR activity of fishes caught in the same estuarine zone. Also, the pelagic species Eucinostomus melanopterus, Eucinostomus argenteus, and Lutjanus jocu had higher RB accumulation, while the demersal species Sphoeroides testudineus and Sphoeroides greeleyi had the lowest RB accumulation, suggesting that the ecological characteristic of fish in the water column exerts an influence on MXR activity. Besides, we demonstrated the potential of using the gill MXR activity of the key estuarine species, the Brazilian silversides Atherinella brasiliensis, as a tool for biomonitoring estuaries. K E Y W O R D S biomarker, Brazilian silverside, P-glycoprotein, MXR, rhodamine B, tropical estuaries SUPPORTING INFORMATION Additional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section. How to cite this article: Macêdo AKS, da Silva JRP, dos Santos HB, Thomé RG, Vendel AL, Amado EM. Estuarine fish assemblages present a species-specific difference in the multixenobiotics resistance activity. J. Exp. Zool. 2019;331: 530-539. https://doi.

Immunohistochemical Analysis of P-gp, LC3-II, and Cathepsin-D Associated with Histological Changes in Fish Liver: from the Impacted Environment to Clean Water

“…There is a correlation between the level of pollution identified and the expression of this glycoprotein; therefore, MXR can be considered a generalized biomarker of aquatic contamination [14]. In this study, the results showed that intense labeling in group 1 indicated a high concentration of pollutants in the environment.…”

“…Likewise, others processes related to cell protection and responses to multixenobiotics have been investigated with an emphasis on the expression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) [11][12][13][14]. P-gp is a transmembrane carrier glycoprotein present in several aquatic organisms, also known as ABCB1.…”

Can the exposure system adopted influence the results of the atrazine toxicity in hepatic tissue of fish?

“…Several factors must be considered to determine the most appropriate experimental design for toxicity tests, including the chemical complexity of the toxicant, persistence in the environment, and the degree of lethality (Gonçalves, 2004). In addition, the response that a living organism presents when exposed to a toxicant may vary according to the species of the animal (Macêdo et al, 2019). Physiological parameters, such as age, size, and sex, as well as the physical‐chemical parameters of the water, including pH, oxygenation, and the composition of the pesticide, can also influence the results obtained in the toxicity tests, which causes variance in the evaluated traits, as seen in the literature.…”

Espécies de peixes do estuário do Rio Paraíba, nordeste do Brasil

“…These economic activities together with the impact of urban wastewater, have been leading to an intense environmental degradation of the estuary. Recent studies have shown a higher degree of human disturbance in the Paraiba River estuary, such as a higher nutrient enrichment, microplastic pollution, and revealed a high activity of a cellular detoxification by fishes, which indicates a high concentration of pollutants in the water of the Paraiba River estuary (Alves et al 2016, de Moura et al 2016, Santos et al 2017, David et al 2018, Macêdo et al 2019.…”