Metabolism of the Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Fluoranthene by the Polychaete Capitella Capitata Species I

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that infaunal deposit feeders may enhance the loss of organic contaminants from sediments. However, the extent to which this occurs as a result of sediment microbial stimulation, porewater flushing, or biotransformation by infauna remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the infaunal polychaete Capitella sp. I is able to metabolize the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) fluoranthene and to provide an initial characterization of the metabolites produced. Our results showed that Capitella sp. I is able to metabolize fluoranthene to more hydrophilic products and that, after 24 h in clean sediment, fluoranthene could no longer be detected in worm tissues whereas a number of fluoranthene-derived metabolites were present. None of the metabolites released or retained by worms resembled known bacterial metabolites, suggesting that Capitella, and not bacteria associated with its gut or body surface, were responsible for the biotransformation of fluoranthene in our system. On the basis of ultraviolet maxima, peak shape, relative height, and order of elution, tentative identities of two metabolites (i.e., 3- and 8-hydroxyfluoranthene) are proposed. The results demonstrate that, in addition to their effects on sediment geochemical properties, infaunal polychaetes such as Capitella can enhance the degradation of sediment-associated contaminants by directly metabolizing them.

Relationship between metabolism and bioaccumulation of benzo[α]pyrene in benthic invertebrates

“…Presented at the 23rd Annual Meeting, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA November 16-20, 2002. olites most likely occurs through a combination of active elimination (e.g., excretion of water soluble conjugates) and passive elimination (e.g., parent PAH and some metabolites) [3,[12][13][14][15]. The little data that exist suggest that invertebrates tend to excrete metabolites more slowly than vertebrate species [6,11,16,17] Current results are conflicting on the degree to which PAH metabolism is inducible in marine invertebrates [3].…”

Biotransformation and genotoxicity of fluoranthene in the deposit‐feeding polychaete Capitella sp. I

“…The 2,3‐diol Flu was produced via biotransformation of Flu by liver postmitochondrial supernatant from aroclor‐treated rats, and the same studies showed that 2,3‐diol Flu and 7,8‐diol Flu, of which the latter Flu‐diol was mutagenic only in high concentrations, could be metabolized further in the presence of postmitochondrial supernatant to more active mutagens [2,34]. Forbes et al [17] found more than 30 different metabolites produced from Flu by Capitella sp. I but unfortunately were unable to identify any of them conclusively.…”

“…I. Furthermore, Forbes et al [17] detected a large number of Flu metabolites produced by Capitella sp. I, but their identities were not determined.…”

Cytochemical responses of Hediste diversicolor (Nereidae, Polychaete) sampled from polluted sites along the Tunisian coast

“…Forbes et al (1996) exposed this species to fluoranthene and found that it quickly took up the pollutant in a concentration dependent manner but body levels were undetectable after three days of exposure. This species is able to convert fluoranthene to more hydrophilic substances which are less toxic allowing its existence in heavily polluted sites (Forbes et al 2001) but making it a poor candidate as an indicator species for hydrocarbon pollution. Rust et al (2004) exposed six species of polychaetes to high BaP levels and found that N. succinea and N. virens seemed to be able to convert this PAH to less toxic metabolites most effectively while the maldanid Clymenella torquata was least effective leading them to warn against the use of N. virens as an indicator species for PAH contamination.…”