Effect of Ultraviolet Radiation on Acetylcholinesterase Activity in Freshwater Copepods

SOUZA, M. S.; BALSEIRO, E.; LASPOUMADERES, C; MODENUTTI, B.

PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND PHOTOBIOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2010 vol. 86 p. 367 - 376

0031-8655

We analyzed the effects of UV radiation (UVR) effects onacetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in two calanoid copepods,Boeckella gibbosa and Parabroteas sarsi that inhabit Patagonianshallow lakes. We studied the effect of experimental UVR(UV-B and UV-A) exposure on AChE activity in relation tobasal antioxidant capacities of both copepods. Our experimentsshowed that UVR can effectively depress AChE activity,although with differences between species. In both copepodsAChE was affected by UV-B, whereas UV-A only affectedAChE in B. gibbosa. Both copepods also differed in bodyelemental composition (C:N:P), photoprotecting compound content(carotenoids and mycosporine-like amino acids) and enzymaticantioxidant capacity (glutathione S-transferase [GST]).Our results suggest that when exposed to UVR, AChE activitywould depend more on the antioxidant capacity (GST) and Pavailability for enzyme synthesis than on the photoprotectivecompounds.