We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Biochemical and lysosomal biomarkers in the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis from the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea, Southern Italy).
- Authors
Moschino, Vanessa; Da Ros, Luisa
- Abstract
Biomarkers are internationally recognized as useful tools in marine coastal biomonitoring, in particular, as early-warning signals at the level of individual organisms to assess biological effects of pollutants and other stressors. In the present study, Mytilus galloprovincialis has been employed as a sentinel organism to assess biological pollution effects in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Southern Italy), a coastal lagoon divided into two small inlets, connected to the open sea through one natural and one artificial narrow openings. Mussels were collected in June 2013 at three sites located within each of the two inlets of the Mar Piccolo. Biological effects were investigated through a suite of biomarkers suitable to reflect effects and/or exposure to contaminants at biochemical and cellular levels. Biochemical biomarkers included glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme activities; as histochemical biomarkers, lysosomal membrane stability, lipofuscin and neutral lipid accumulation, and lysosomal structural changes were considered. As a whole, results highlighted differences among the three study sites, particularly for GST, AChE, and lipofuscins, which are consistent with the variations of the chemical pollutants in sediments. The applied biomarkers showed that a stress syndrome likely to be ascribed to environmental pollutants is occurring in mussels living in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto, in particular, the ones inhabiting the first inlet.
- Subjects
TARANTO (Italy); MYTILUS galloprovincialis; BIOMARKERS; MARINE pollution research; MARINE sediment pollution
- Publication
Environmental Science & Pollution Research, 2016, Vol 23, Issue 13, p12770
- ISSN
0944-1344
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s11356-015-4929-1