The DNA/RNA ratio as a useful indicator of the nutritional condition in juveniles of Ruditapes decussatus

Chícharo, Luís; Teodosio, Maria

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/2481

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Authors

Chícharo, Luís

Teodosio, Maria

Abstract(s)

Condition indices have been widely used to assess how healthy individuals are under certain circumstances. It has been shown that the RNA/DNA ratio is a good indicator of the nutritional condition of severa1 marine organisms. A very sensitive fluorometric method for RNA/DNA quantification (Clemmesen, 1990) was applied to fed and starved post-larvae laboratory-reared clam, Ruditapes decussatus. The presented study shows that the RNA/DNA ratio is a useful indicator of nutritional stress for bivalve spat. The decrease in RNA/DNA ratio recorded here, under starved conditions was lower than in similar experiments on fish. A lower metabolic rate in clams may result in a slower response with respect to RNA/DNA ratios than that observed in vertebrates.

Keywords

Bivalves Nutritional condition RNA DNA ratios Ruditapes decussatus RNA-DNA ratios

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/2481

Citation

Chicharo, L. M. Z.; Chicharo, Maat. The DNA/RNA ratio as a useful indicator of the nutritional condition in juveniles of Ruditapes decussatus, Scientia Marina, 59, 95-101, 1995.