Preliminary Microplate Ames MPF™ test use in assessment of mutagenic properties of spider webs

Abstract

Air pollution is one of the most urgent problems of modern world, eventually causing the premature death of millions people every year. One of the burdens due to exposure to air pollutants is a lung cancer. It is necessary to develop new effective methods of carcinogen monitoring. The aim of the study was to evaluate if spider webs are suitable for the assessment of air mutagenicity by Ames MPF™ test. It is the first time spider webs had been incorporated into Ames MPF™ procedure. Webs of two spider species Araneus diadematus and Agelena labyrinthica have been collected at four sites exposed to high pollutants emission. Salmonella typhimurium TA98 strain without metabolic fraction have been used for the assay. All samples exhibited mutagenic activity most likely due to the road traffic. Webs of A. labyrinthica have shown higher mutagenicity effects at the tested sites in comparison to A. diadematus, plausibly because of the longer exposition time. The results are most promising and indicate high potential of combining spider webs and MPF™ procedure for assessing the mutagenic properties of urban air pollution.

The use of spider webs in the monitoring of air quality—A review

“…It is a rapid and reliable bacterial assay performed to evaluate a chemical's potential genotoxicity by measuring its ability to provoke reverse mutations of selected bacterial strains. In 2018 and 2019, spider webs were used for the assessment of air pollution mutagenicity using the Ames MPF test (Rutkowski, Jadczyk, et al, 2018; Rutkowski et al, 2019). In these studies, the mutagenicity of web samples collected outdoors and indoors was analyzed.…”

“…For instance, the use of spider webs in genotoxic studies is quite a new idea, but the researches described above (Rutkowski, Jadczyk, et al, 2018; Rutkowski et al, 2019) demonstrate that it is very promising. The low cost and ease of the sampling method is surely an encouraging factor.…”

“…Additionally, the product is natural, meaning that the production of additional waste (i.e., used filters) can be avoided. The efficient accumulation of pollutants allows them to be used for long-term monitoring, usually 2-3 months, which is the optimal period in terms of obtained results (Rutkowski, Jadczyk, et al, 2018).…”