Multixenobiotic resistance protein expression in Mytilus edulis, M. galloprovincialis and Crassostrea gigas from the French coasts

Abstract

Multixenobiotic resistance (MXR) is a membrane-transport mechanism that allows organisms to exclude many compounds from their cells and tissues. It is thus a first line of defence against a variety of toxic compounds. Since mussels and oysters possess MXR proteins, an analysis of the expression level of these membrane-transporters has been conducted in relation to their body burden of some major environmental contaminants. Mussels Mytilus edulis and M. galloprovincialis and the oyster Crassostrea gigas were sampled from a total of 43 sites along the French coasts. High expression levels were found in animals from the major French estuaries (Seine, Loire and Gironde), at a few sites in Brittany and in nearly all sites from the Mediterranean mainland coasts. Multivariate analysis of the data for both species of blue mussel did show significant differences between groups of samples. Results indicated that expression of MXR protein was strongly associated with contaminant concentrations in mussels, and that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were directly correlated with MXR protein concentration. However, multivariate analysis of oysters, which were collected in less-contaminated sites, at least for organic pollutants, did not show any significant differences between MXR protein expression and contaminants. Although the results do not infer a causal linkage between mussel MXR protein, PAHs and PCBs, since many other chemical contaminants are also present at some sites, they do show clearly that MXR protein expression can be used as an indicator of pollutant exposure in blue mussels. The findings also highlight the need to use alternative analytical methods for the interpretation of complex environmental data, and that non-parametric multivariate statistical methods are appropriate for this task. KEY WORDS: MXR · P-glycoprotein · Biomonitoring · Mytilus edulis · Mytilus galloprovincialis · Crassostrea gigas Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 322: [143][144][145][146][147][148][149][150][151][152][153][154] 2006 Several studies have shown that mussels and oysters possess a multixenobiotic resistance (MXR) mechanism (Minier et al. 1993, Lüdeking & Köhler 2002 similar to the multidrug resistance (MDR) phenomenon first discovered in mammalian cells and later identified in many other organisms including bacteria, plants, fungi, invertebrates and vertebrates (Lage 2003). Characteristics of this defence system have been established in studies on mammalian cell lines isolated for resistance to a single cytotoxic drug, which subsequently were shown to be cross-resistant to numerous structurally and functionally unrelated drugs (Biedler & Riehm 1970, Akiyama et al. 1985. The cytotoxic compounds are predominantly alkaloids and antibiotics of plant and fungal origin (Gottesman & Pastan 1993). The pharmacological basis for the resistance appears to be decreased drug accumulation and retention, mediated by the ATP-...

Characterisation of the multixenobiotic resistance (MXR) mechanism in the freshwater snailPhysa acutafrom Patagonia (Argentina)

“…Moreover, this P-gp expression is strongly associated with tissue pollutant concentrations (Minier et al 1993(Minier et al , 2006Smital et al 2003). Our observation in P. acuta snails is in full agreement with previous results showing the presence of protein at different molecular weights ranging from 80 to 240 kDa using the C-219 antibody (Bard 2000;Tutundjian et al 2002;Tutundjian & Minier 2007;Amé et al 2009).…”

Assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) from the Western basin of the Mediterranean Sea

“…This is the case of the North West basin with areas described as contaminated by oil as demonstrated measuring the contamination of sediments (Benlahcen et al 1997;De Luca et al 2004;Romano et al 2004;Trabelsi and Driss 2005;Mille et al 2007) in water (Lipiatou et al 1997;Bouloubassi et al 2006) and in marine organisms (Baumard et al 1998(Baumard et al , 1999Villeneuve et al 1999;Piccardo et al 2001;Andral et al 2004) and measuring biological effects (Galgani et al 1992;Burgeot et al 1993Burgeot et al , 1995Porte et al 2000;Romeo et al 2003;Minier et al 2006;Box et al 2007;Martínez-Gómez et al 2008).…”

Accumulation of PAHs in the tissues and algal symbionts of a common Mediterranean coral: Skeletal storage relates to population age structure

“…In the Mediterranean Sea, although many studies focus on PAH contamination in benthic organisms such as mollusks (Cocchieri et al, 1990;Ausili et al, 1996;Minier et al, 2006;Perugini et al, 2007;Galgani et al, 2011;León et al, 2013;Mercogliano et al, 2016), crustaceans (Porte and Albaiges, 1993;Perugini et al, 2007;Costa et al, 2016), and fishes (Baumard et al, 1998;Perugini et al, 2007;Solé et al, 2013;Guerranti et al, 2016;Ferrante et al, 2018;Frapiccini et al, 2018Frapiccini et al, , 2020, no study has yet been performed on corals.…”