Assessment of antioxidant responses as biomarkers of environmental stress in gills of ribbed mussel Aulacomaya atra atra (New Gulf, Northern Patagonia)

GIARRATANO E; GIL M; MALANGA G

ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY

ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2014 vol. 107 p. 111 - 119

0147-6513

In this study, we assessed in gills of native ribbed mussels Aulacomya atra atra from three sites within Nuevo Gulf (Northern Patagonia) several biomarkers such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid radicals (LR), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST) and metallothionein (MT). Furthermore, concentrations of main trace metals (Fe, Al, Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb) were quantified in mussel tissue. Results showed significant induction of SOD, GST, MT and MDA, as well as, higher concentration of Fe, Al and Cd in winter than in summer. The high MDA content measured in mussels from Folías Wreck seemed to be caused by the very high levels of Fe that would come from the corrosion of the vessel. Mussels from the control site Punta Cuevas presented the lowest levels of Cd and the highest of Al in winter. Despite positive correlations were found between Al and GST and MT, no spatial differentiation was detected in those biomarkers. On the other hand, MT was only related to Al been most likely influenced by environmental variables than by the trace metals. Mussel gills are actively proliferating tissue and the first target of contaminants present in water, so that changes in their antioxidant system can provide an earlier warning signal in this tissue than in others. Meanwhile, gills reflect aquatic environment conditions more quickly than other tissues from the point of view the changes in the activity of antioxidant enzymes weakly depend on the state of the mollusc.