Integration of biochemical, histochemical and toxicogenomic indices for the assessment of health status of mussels from the Tamar Estuary, U.K.

The assessment of marine environmental health is a complex but fundamental task both for ecosystem conservation and food safety related to the human consumption of marine products. Manila clams inhabiting the Venice Lagoon constitute an excellent case study for evaluating the effects of complex mixtures of industrial and urban effluents on aquatic organisms. Clams were collected in different seasons at four locations within the Venice Lagoon. The sampling sites were characterized by a range of pollutant concentrations and included Porto Marghera, a highly polluted industrial area where clam harvesting for human consumption is strictly forbidden. Pooled soft tissues were subjected to mass spectroscopy analysis to measure the concentrations of PCDDs/PCDFs/PCBs-DL, PCBs, PBDEs, HCB and PAHs, and pooled digestive gland samples were used for gene expression profiling. While seasonal variation was found to be responsible for the largest proportion of transcriptional changes, significance analysis of microarrays quantitative correlation analysis identified 162 transcripts that were correlated with at least one class of chemicals measured in the samples from the four different sampling sites. Prediction Analysis of Microarrays (PAM) identified a minimal set of seven genes that correctly assigned samples collected in the restricted polluted area (Porto Marghera), independent of the season in which they were collected. An integrated approach combining transcriptomics and chemical analyses of the Manila clam provided a global picture of how Manila clams respond to complex mixtures of xenobiotics and their interplay with other biotic and abiotic factors. We were also able to identify gene expression signatures for different classes of chemicals and a set of robust biomarkers of exposure to these chemicals.

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“…; Shaw et al . ; Milan et al . ), despite the great potential of these animals to be utilized as biological indicators of water pollution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the effects of seasonality and chemical pollution on the hepatopancreas transcriptome of the Manila clam

et al. 2013

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“…Despite a general consensus on the integration of different measures, biomarkers and biomonitoring criteria are a matter of study [10], [11] and the current ‘omics’ sciences greatly enlarge the repertoire of the potential indicators to be considered for validation and standardization [12], [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA Damage and Transcriptional Changes in the Gills of Mytilus galloprovincialis Exposed to Nanomolar Doses of Combined Metal Salts (Cd, Cu, Hg)

et al. 2013

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Aiming at an integrated and mechanistic view of the early biological effects of selected metals in the marine sentinel organism Mytilus galloprovincialis, we exposed mussels for 48 hours to 50, 100 and 200 nM solutions of equimolar Cd, Cu and Hg salts and measured cytological and molecular biomarkers in parallel. Focusing on the mussel gills, first target of toxic water contaminants and actively proliferating tissue, we detected significant dose-related increases of cells with micronuclei and other nuclear abnormalities in the treated mussels, with differences in the bioconcentration of the three metals determined in the mussel flesh by atomic absorption spectrometry. Gene expression profiles, determined in the same individual gills in parallel, revealed some transcriptional changes at the 50 nM dose, and substantial increases of differentially expressed genes at the 100 and 200 nM doses, with roughly similar amounts of up- and down-regulated genes. The functional annotation of gill transcripts with consistent expression trends and significantly altered at least in one dose point disclosed the complexity of the induced cell response. The most evident transcriptional changes concerned protein synthesis and turnover, ion homeostasis, cell cycle regulation and apoptosis, and intracellular trafficking (transcript sequences denoting heat shock proteins, metal binding thioneins, sequestosome 1 and proteasome subunits, and GADD45 exemplify up-regulated genes while transcript sequences denoting actin, tubulins and the apoptosis inhibitor 1 exemplify down-regulated genes). Overall, nanomolar doses of co-occurring free metal ions have induced significant structural and functional changes in the mussel gills: the intensity of response to the stimulus measured in laboratory supports the additional validation of molecular markers of metal exposure to be used in Mussel Watch programs.

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“…The occurrence of LPO in bivalves following PAH exposure, including in the temperate scallops Pecten maximus and Mytilus edulis and the mussel M. galloprovincialis, has been widely documented [23,32,72]. LPO can interfere with membrane structure and function by changing membrane fluidity, breaking the membrane integrity, passivating membrane-bound enzymes and disrupting surface receptor molecules [81].…”

Section: Antioxidant Responses Of P Martensii To Pyrenementioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of pyrene exposure on immune response and oxidative stress in the pearl oyster, Pinctada martensii

Xie

Zhao

Han

et al. 2017

Fish & Shellfish Immunology

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a b s t r a c tPyrene is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) commonly observed in aquatic ecosystems, which originates primarily from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and the use of petroleum compounds. Pyrene can cause the immune disturbance and oxidative stress, result in immunotoxicity, DNA damage, reduce reproduction significantly, and induce behavioral changes. Marine bivalves are commonly used as bioindicators for marine pollution, and hemolymph is a metabolite transfer medium for PAH pollutant. However, the vital immune indicator responses of pearl oyster Pinctada martensii hemolymph exposed to pyrene is still unclear. Thus, the immunotoxic responses of pyrene on the hemolymph of the Pinctada martensii were investigated in this study. After exposure to pyrene for 7 days, the total number of hemocytes (THC), cell membrane stability (CMS), phagocytic activity (PA) and total glutathione (GSH T ) all decreased significantly. Pyrene also caused a significant increase in lipid peroxi- ) and GSH T (7.2 mg L À1 ), which indicates that THC and LPO were more sensitive. Additionally, a clear dose-effect relationship indicated that pyrene stimulated a marked immune response, as well as oxidative stress in P. martensii, which demonstrates the subtle effects of pyrene exposure on marine invertebrates and the potential associated risk.

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Integration of biochemical, histochemical and toxicogenomic indices for the assessment of health status of mussels from the Tamar Estuary, U.K.

Cited by 47 publications

References 26 publications

Exploring the effects of seasonality and chemical pollution on the hepatopancreas transcriptome of the Manila clam

Exploring the effects of seasonality and chemical pollution on the hepatopancreas transcriptome of the Manila clam

DNA Damage and Transcriptional Changes in the Gills of Mytilus galloprovincialis Exposed to Nanomolar Doses of Combined Metal Salts (Cd, Cu, Hg)

Effects of pyrene exposure on immune response and oxidative stress in the pearl oyster, Pinctada martensii

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