Genotoxicity of Water Contaminants from the Basin of Lake Sevan, Armenia Evaluated by the Comet Assay in Gibel Carp (Carassius auratus gibelio) and Tradescantia Bioassays

Abstract

Combination of bioassays and chemical analysis was applied to determine the genotoxic/mutagenic contamination in four different sites of the basin of Lake Sevan in Armenia. Water genotoxicity was evaluated using the single cell gel electrophoresis technique (comet assay) in erythrocytes of gibel carp (Carassius auratus gibelio), Tradescantia micronucleus (Trad-MCN) and Tradescantia stamen hair mutation (Trad-SHM) assays. Significant inter-site differences in the levels of water genotoxicity according to fish and Trad-MCN bioassays have been revealed. Two groups of locations with lower (south-southwest of the village Shorzha and Peninsula of Lake Sevan) and higher (estuaries of Gavaraget and Dzknaget rivers) levels of water genotoxicity were distinguished. Correlation analysis support the hypothesis that the observed genetic alterations in fish and plant may be a manifestation of the effects of water contamination by nitrate ions, Si, Al, Fe, Mn and Cu. Increase of DNA damage in fish also correlated with content of total phosphorus.

The comet assay in animal models: From bugs to whales – (Part 2 Vertebrates)

“…Besides zebrafish as the fish model that lives in a freshwater environment, several other predominantly freshwater as well as brackish water species are used for the assessment of different contaminants using the comet assay; they include brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) [85], marble trout (Salmo marmoratus) [124], trout (Salmo cenerinus) [124], rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) [125,126], common carp (Cyprinus carpio) [76, 82,127], major carp (Catla catla) [128], mrigal carp (Cirrhinus mrigala) [128], gibel carp (Carassius auratus gibelio) [129], common barbell (Barbus barbus) [130], common bleak (Alburnus alburnus) [131,132], freshwater bream (Abramis brama) [133], silver bream (Abramis bjoerkna) [134], white-eye bream (Abramis sapa) [134], rohu (Labeo rohita) [135][136][137][138][139], orangefin labeo (Labeo calbasu) [86], brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) [76,140], chub (Leuciscus cephalus) [141][142][143], European chub (Squalius cephalus) [87,[144][145][146], pale chub (Zacco platypus) [147], climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) [148], small-scaled pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) [149,150], eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) [77], Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) [151][152][153]…”

Assessment of the ecotoxicity of urban estuarine sediment using benthic and pelagic copepod bioassays

“…DNA damage has been reported to affect enzyme functioning and impair the immune system and metabolism of invertebrates, resulting in growth, development, and fitness alterations ( Bajpayee, Kumar & Dhawan, 2017 ; Buschini et al, 2003 ). Genetic alterations can also lead to mutations and cell proliferations ( Mussali-Galante et al, 2014 ; Simonyan et al, 2016 ), and inherited teratogenic defects, leading to decreased fitness in populations ( Bachère et al, 2017 ; De Flora, Bagnasco & Zanacchi, 1991 ; Osman, 2014 ).…”

Evaluating the Trace Element Concentration in Sediments and Assessing Their Genotoxicity in Ichthyofauna of a Coastal Lagoon in Southeastern Brazil

“…In other cases, rainfall contributes to water dispersion and the bioavailability of contaminants [28], which alter the relationship between genetic damage and various organic matter and the microbiological parameters of urban discharge, which may also be affected by seasonal factors such as precipitation and wind [27]. Moreover, genotoxic damage in fish is also correlated with TP content [65], which was found to vary in the Mãe-Bá Lagoon along with the action of wind. Lagoons are favorable environments for cyanobacteria flowering, which is promoted by the phosphorus supply of the sediment, high temperatures, and alkaline conditions found in these environments [66].…”