Loading...
Publication
Contaminant effects in shore crabs (Carcinus maenas) from Ria Formosa Lagoon
| Name: | Description: | Size: | Format: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.26 MB | Adobe PDF |
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Defence and damage biomarkers signals were studied in female and male shore crabs Carcinus maenas transplanted between two sites at Ria Formosa Lagoon (South of Portugal). The cross transplantation occurred during 6 days at a hypothetical reference site (Ramalhete), and a contaminated site (OlhĂŁo). DNA unwinding technique was used for DNA integrity measurement. General enzymatic antioxidant responses in gills and hepatopancreas (catalase and gills glutathione peroxidase activities increase) showed that cross transplanted crabs (female and male) are suffering from pro-oxidant challenges at the OlhĂŁo site. Gills and hepatopancreas glutathione-S-transferase were reduced in both gender crabs transplanted from Ramalhete to OlhĂŁo. Metallothioneins induction occurred in crabs transplanted from Ramalhete to OlhĂŁo (contaminated by metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)). However metallothionein differences were also observed towards gender and organ specificities. High gills lipid peroxidation exist in male crabs transplanted from Ramalhete to OlhĂŁo, while in females it was the opposite. In both gender crabs from the OlhĂŁo site, gills DNA integrity decreased compared to the Ramalhete feral crabs. Moreover, hepatopancreas DNA integrity decreased in male crabs transplanted from OlhĂŁo to Ramalhete site which may be related to the environmental conditions (lower contamination levels) revealing the difficulty of selection of reference sites in field studies. Data demonstrated that female and male C. maenas antioxidant defences and damage biomarkers were sensitive to the mixture of contaminants present in these sites as well as good indicators of general stress.
Description
Keywords
Animals Antioxidants Biomarkers Brachyura Catalase Environmental monitoring Female Gills Glutathione peroxidase Glutathione transferase Hepatopancreas Lipid peroxidation Male Metallothionein Metals Oxidative stress Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Portugal Sex Factors Time factors Water pollutants DNA damage Chemical
Citation
Publisher
Elsevier