Lysosomal Membrane Stability of Mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck, 1819) as a Biomarker of Cellular Stress for Environmental Contamination

Abstract

The lysosomal membrane stability (LMS) of hemocytes in wild mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) as a biomarker of cellular stress for chemical pollution was tested by neutral red retention time (NRRT) assays. To assess the environmental contamination in the study area, seawater quality and pollutant bioaccumulation throughout the soft tissue of mussels were investigated. The samples were collected in July 2022 at four sites on the Romanian Black Sea coast considered to be differently affected by contamination. To support the suitability of LMS as a biomarker of contaminant-induced stress, the contaminant body burdens of the mussels were compared with the NRRT values. The results showed a significantly reduced NRRT in all investigated locations, particularly in port areas (mean retention time between 11 and 14 min). The elevated bioaccumulation of organochlorinated pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and low NRRTs were observed at the most contaminated sites (i.e., ports). The low lysosomal stability reflected stress and damage in the hemocytes of mussels and could be related to the body burdens of contaminants. LMS is an effective indicator of health status in mussels and could be considered a sensitive biomarker of cellular stress induced by contaminant exposure.

Effects of Temperature and Salinity on the LMS (Lysosomal Membrane Stability) Biomarker in Clams Donax trunculus and Chamelea gallina

“…Furthermore, our findings show that this differential response varied between the clam species under study. The lysosomal permeability to intermediate salinities (32)(33) at 12 • C and 20 • C in C. gallina has opposite patterns in comparison to D. trunculus. Different patterns of variation in total hemocytes counts has been described between C. gallina and Mytilus galloprovincialis submitted to the same environmental conditions [56], which partially supports the differential interspecies responses found on LMS in our study.…”

“…In this sense, lysosomal membrane stability (LMS) represents the most sensitive biomarker of stress at cellular level. LMS in bivalve hemocytes is a core biomarker of general stress of chemical pollution that has been widely recommended by different organizations, such as the Barcelona Convention, International Council for Exploration of the Sea (ICES), and Oslo and Paris (OSPAR) Conventions, and implemented in mussel monitoring programs of chemical pollution [33][34][35]. Given the fact that a variety of factors in addition to overfishing, such as environmental pollution, have been proposed to explain the population significant declines of Donax trunculus and Chamelea gallina mollusks in the Mediterranean Region, interest and opportunities arise to use LMS as a general stress biomarker of chemical environmental pollution in these species.…”

Expansion of the HSP70 gene family in Tegillarca granosa and expression profiles in response to zinc toxicity

“… 72 Lysosomes are widely present in digestive cells and hemocytes in bivalves and have been identified as a specific target for the toxic effects of many pollutants. 73 More research in other tissues will be required to confirm the correlation between HSP70 and lysosomal membranes.…”