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(205) Potential and limitations of soil invertebrate biomarkers: final report of the EU BIOPRINT field project. Kammenga, Jan1, 1 ABSTRACT- The BIOPRINT project (1996-2000) was dedicated to the deployment of biochemical fingerprint techniques for assessing the exposure and effect of toxicants on soil invertebrates which were sampled in the contaminated Avonmouth area (UK). Research focused on different biomarkers: heat shock proteins (hsps), metallothioneins (mt) and metal-binding proteins (mb), isozymes, lysosomal integrity and novel biomarkers. The project included a variety of organisms i.e. nematodes, diplopods, isopods, springtails, gastropods and earthworms. Hsps in isopods and nematodes were a biomarker of general stress and levels increased first with increasing proteotoxicity, but decreased when adverse impact inhibits transcription or protein formation. Reliable methods have been developed which can be applied to a range of different species. Mt was characterized for springtails and because equilibrium metal concentration were reached, mt was a useful biomarker for exposure as well as for effect. Mt from snails and earthworms show promise as valuable biomarkers at least for cadmium pollution under field conditions. Isozymes could be used either as a specific biomarker of exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors (esterases) or as general indicators for toxic stress. The earthworm lysosomal system was identified as a non-specific biomarker responding equally sensitive to organic or inorganic contamination but if used in combination with immuno-activity of the coelomocytes it was possible to be more specific. The novel biomarker, free histidine, was positively correlated with increasing copper exposure and total copper burden in earthworms. The results are discussed in relation to chemical analysis of the soil and risk assessment approaches are presented based on the aforementioned suite of biomarkers. Key words: soil, invertebrates, biomarkers |
