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Utility of biomarkers in the assessment of marine pollution
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Abstracts / Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part A 154 (2010) S51–S52
The proteomics’ profile analysis showed that around 10% of the total identified proteins were regulated and one fourth of them confirmed the gene expression changes. Particularly interesting was the down regulation of the Silicon transporter 1 (ST1), an enzyme that is responsible for the uptake of silica from the media into the cell of diatoms. The gene and protein were both down regulated and it is considered a promising biomarker of exposure to PAHs. Indeed the changes in the ST1 expression were confirmed also when the diatoms were exposed to marine samples contaminated by PAHs. doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2010.06.146
POSTER PRESENTATIONS 4. The marine environment I.Q. concept Developing an index of the quality of the marine environment based on biomarkers: Integration of pollutant effects on marine organisms D.M. Pampanin, E. Ravagnan, S. Apeland, N. Aarab, B.F. Godal, S. Westerlund (IRIS, Stavenger, Norway); D.Ø. Hjermann (University of Oslo, Norway); T. Eftestøl (Stavanger University, Norway); M. Budka, B. Gabrys (Bournemouth University, UK); A. Viarengo (University of Piemonte Orientale, DiSAV, Italy); J. Barsiene (Institute of Ecology, Vilnius, Lithuania) The main goals achieved in the project were:
3. Utility of biomarkers in the assessment of marine pollution 1. M.U. Beg (Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait) Aquatic life-based water quality criteria are designed to provide a reasonable level of protection to all the taxa present in a water body. The criterion serves as a distinct numeric value that can be used to compare concentrations measured in water bodies and used to determine whether water bodies are in compliance with water quality standards. However, chronic presence of mixtures of toxic chemicals over a large surface area in sub-optimal concentrations is the real problem. Organisms are subjected to a number and variety of suspected pollutants in the environment, therefore, multiple measures of health are needed to help identify and separate anthropogenic-induced effects of stress from those effects caused by natural stressors. A variety of stress responses have been measured in biota collected from the marine area of Kuwait to indicate various types of stresses. Exposure to bioavailable PAHs was assessed by determining metabolites in the bile of fish using fixed-wavelength fluorescence (FF). Fish liver 7-ethoxy resorufino-dethylase (EROD) activity was determined as a biomarker of exposure to planar hydrocarbons. Heat shock proteins (HSP70) were determined in fish gills, muscle and liver tissue as stress biomarker of temperature variations and other physical or chemical stimuli. A large variation in biomarker response was observed in fish collected from the same place at the same time. The utility of the wide range of biomarker data will be discussed in the assessment of marine pollution and predicting hazard.
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A simple stepwise method for risk assessment analysis for the marine environment based on multiple biological responses (biomarker approach) was constructed. The analytical power of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) for water quality classification based on biomarker data was assessed. Environmental quality information was extracted from biological responses of marine organisms. The link between biomarker responses and water containing PAHs was studied and the output is satisfying. General Additive Models proved to be a useful and robust method in describing relationships between biomarkers and combinations of biomarker responses. Suitable sets of biomarkers for monitoring programs, depending of the type of pollutants present in the environment, were to be defined. Data deficiency was the main challenge for this goal. Sets of biomarkers, focused on PAHs and metals, were established and used in the water quality classification performed with ANN. A field validation study was also performed. A mapping system (Geographic Information Systems) to make the tool accessible for public environmental agencies was applied. This project has shown the possibility to extract valuable information from complex data indicating pollution (biomarkers), using sophisticated statistical and/or modelling tools, displaying the results in an easy and comprehensible way. Water quality classification was attempted with different "classifiers" other than ANN, to explore new methods extrapolating maximum information from the actual incomplete dataset, and to test possible future use with different species and more complete datasets.
doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2010.06.148 doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2010.06.147
Abstracts / Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part A 154 (2010) S51–S52
The proteomics’ profile analysis showed that around 10% of the total identified proteins were regulated and one fourth of them confirmed the gene expression changes. Particularly interesting was the down regulation of the Silicon transporter 1 (ST1), an enzyme that is responsible for the uptake of silica from the media into the cell of diatoms. The gene and protein were both down regulated and it is considered a promising biomarker of exposure to PAHs. Indeed the changes in the ST1 expression were confirmed also when the diatoms were exposed to marine samples contaminated by PAHs. doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2010.06.146
POSTER PRESENTATIONS 4. The marine environment I.Q. concept Developing an index of the quality of the marine environment based on biomarkers: Integration of pollutant effects on marine organisms D.M. Pampanin, E. Ravagnan, S. Apeland, N. Aarab, B.F. Godal, S. Westerlund (IRIS, Stavenger, Norway); D.Ø. Hjermann (University of Oslo, Norway); T. Eftestøl (Stavanger University, Norway); M. Budka, B. Gabrys (Bournemouth University, UK); A. Viarengo (University of Piemonte Orientale, DiSAV, Italy); J. Barsiene (Institute of Ecology, Vilnius, Lithuania) The main goals achieved in the project were:
3. Utility of biomarkers in the assessment of marine pollution 1. M.U. Beg (Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait) Aquatic life-based water quality criteria are designed to provide a reasonable level of protection to all the taxa present in a water body. The criterion serves as a distinct numeric value that can be used to compare concentrations measured in water bodies and used to determine whether water bodies are in compliance with water quality standards. However, chronic presence of mixtures of toxic chemicals over a large surface area in sub-optimal concentrations is the real problem. Organisms are subjected to a number and variety of suspected pollutants in the environment, therefore, multiple measures of health are needed to help identify and separate anthropogenic-induced effects of stress from those effects caused by natural stressors. A variety of stress responses have been measured in biota collected from the marine area of Kuwait to indicate various types of stresses. Exposure to bioavailable PAHs was assessed by determining metabolites in the bile of fish using fixed-wavelength fluorescence (FF). Fish liver 7-ethoxy resorufino-dethylase (EROD) activity was determined as a biomarker of exposure to planar hydrocarbons. Heat shock proteins (HSP70) were determined in fish gills, muscle and liver tissue as stress biomarker of temperature variations and other physical or chemical stimuli. A large variation in biomarker response was observed in fish collected from the same place at the same time. The utility of the wide range of biomarker data will be discussed in the assessment of marine pollution and predicting hazard.
2.
3.
4.
A simple stepwise method for risk assessment analysis for the marine environment based on multiple biological responses (biomarker approach) was constructed. The analytical power of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) for water quality classification based on biomarker data was assessed. Environmental quality information was extracted from biological responses of marine organisms. The link between biomarker responses and water containing PAHs was studied and the output is satisfying. General Additive Models proved to be a useful and robust method in describing relationships between biomarkers and combinations of biomarker responses. Suitable sets of biomarkers for monitoring programs, depending of the type of pollutants present in the environment, were to be defined. Data deficiency was the main challenge for this goal. Sets of biomarkers, focused on PAHs and metals, were established and used in the water quality classification performed with ANN. A field validation study was also performed. A mapping system (Geographic Information Systems) to make the tool accessible for public environmental agencies was applied. This project has shown the possibility to extract valuable information from complex data indicating pollution (biomarkers), using sophisticated statistical and/or modelling tools, displaying the results in an easy and comprehensible way. Water quality classification was attempted with different "classifiers" other than ANN, to explore new methods extrapolating maximum information from the actual incomplete dataset, and to test possible future use with different species and more complete datasets.
doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2010.06.148 doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2010.06.147