Dataset Information

Assessment of the ecotoxicity of urban estuarine sediment using benthic and pelagic copepod bioassays.

ABSTRACT: Urban estuarine sediments are sinks to a range of contaminants of anthropogenic origin, and a key challenge is to characterize the risk of these compounds to receiving environments. In this study, the toxicity of urban estuarine sediments was tested using acute and chronic bioassays in the benthic harpacticoid Quinquelaophonte sp., and in the planktonic calanoid Gladioferens pectinatus, two New Zealand copepod species. The sediment samples from the estuary tributary sites significantly impacted reproduction in Quinquelaophonte sp. However, results from one of the estuary sites were not significantly different to those from the tributaries sites, suggesting that chemicals other than trace metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and ammonia may be the causative stressors. Sediment elutriate samples had significant effects on reproductive endpoints in G. pectinatus, and on the induction of DNA damage in cells, as shown by the comet assay. The results indicate that sediment contamination at the Ahuriri Estuary has the potential to impact biological processes of benthic and pelagic organisms. The approach used provides a standardized methodology to assess the toxicity of estuarine sediments.

SUBMITTER: Charry MP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5984583 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Assessment of the ecotoxicity of urban estuarine sediment using benthic and pelagic copepod bioassays.

Charry Maria P MP Keesing Vaughan V Costello Mark M Tremblay Louis A LA

PeerJ 20180530

Urban estuarine sediments are sinks to a range of contaminants of anthropogenic origin, and a key challenge is to characterize the risk of these compounds to receiving environments. In this study, the toxicity of urban estuarine sediments was tested using acute and chronic bioassays in the benthic harpacticoid <i>Quinquelaophonte</i> sp., and in the planktonic calanoid <i>Gladioferens pectinatus</i>, two New Zealand copepod species. The sediment samples from the estuary tributary sites significa ...[more]

PMID: 29868297

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Project description:Larval settlement and metamorphosis is a vital transition period for marine invertebrates and can have far-reaching effects on the ecology and evolution of a species. To explore the molecular mechanisms of this critical process in a non-model organism, the tropical abalone Haliotis asinina, we employed cDNA microarray methods. By comparing gene expression profiles through mid to late larval development and metamorphosis, we identified 144 genes as likely candidates for a role in competence and/or metamorphosis. Gene characterization showed that ~60% of these were significantly similar to previously described genes from other taxa, while ~40% had no significant similarities to any known genes. A high 49.3% of genes were gastropod- or abalone-specific, but none appear to be Lophotrochozoan-specific, despite the fact that metamorphosis is thought to have had a separate origin in this group. Based on temporal expression profiles, the differentially expressed larval and postlarval genes can be clustered into 5 categories that reveal there are strikingly different transcriptional patterns occurring during this phase of development. Some classes of gene activation are contingent upon exogenous cues and correlate with the initiation of settlement and metamorphosis. Importantly, there is also extensive gene activity associated with the endogenous attainment of competence, which occurs prior to, and independent of, the exogenous induction of settlement. Our results show that as the haliotid veliger larva matures, it requires the coordinated regulation of temporally different batteries of genes involved in a wide range of physiological and developmental processes associated with colonisation of the benthos. Although the signalling pathways operating at metamorphosis may be conserved across the animal kingdom, it appears they are regulating the expression of novel genes specific to abalone, gastropods and molluscs during H. asinina metamorphosis. Keywords: timecourse; metamorphosis; marine ecology

Project description:Compared to freshwater ecosystems, the health status of estuarine waters remains little studied despite their importance for many species. They also represent a zone of interest for Human settlements that make them the final sink of pollution in both the water column and sediment. Once in sediments, pollutants could represent a threat to benthic as well as pelagic estuarine species through resuspension events. In the Seine estuary, the copepod Eurytemora affinis has been previously presented as a relevant species to assess resuspended sediment contamination through the use of fitness-related effects at the individual level. The aim of the present study was to use E. affinis copepods to assess estuarine sediment-derived elutriates toxicity using both a molecular (i.e. transcriptomics) and a behavioral approach. Two sites along the Seine estuary were sampled. They were both under anthropic pressures from the industrial-port activities or wastewater treatment plants (i.e. Tancarville) or agricultural pressure from freshwater affluent (i.e. Fatouville). The analysis of sediments used to prepare elutriates reveals that both sites have close contamination profiles. The transcriptomic analysis reveals that exposure to both sites triggers the dysregulation of genes involved in biological function as defense response, immunity, ecdysone pathway or neurotoxicity. This analysis also reveals a higher count of dysregulated genes in the Fatouville site compared to the Tancarville despite their close contamination profile. These results emphasize the sensitivity of this molecular approach to assess environmental matrix toxicity with E. affinis. The analysis of the swimming behavior of E. affinis did not highlight significant effects after both sites elutriate exposure. However, our strategy to assess E. affinis swimming behavior (i.e the combination of the DanioVision observation chamber and the EthoVision analysis software) allows the discrimination of basal swimming behavior in this species. Thus, it represents a promising standardized tool to assess copepods swimming behavior in ecotoxicological studies.

Dataset Information

Assessment of the ecotoxicity of urban estuarine sediment using benthic and pelagic copepod bioassays.

Publications

Assessment of the ecotoxicity of urban estuarine sediment using benthic and pelagic copepod bioassays.

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