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(80-34) Trace metals and antioxidant enzymes in the polychaete Sabella spallanzani. Bocchetti, Raffaella1, Fattorini, Daniele1, Regoli, Francesco*,1, 1 University of Ancona, Ancona, Italy ABSTRACT- Polychaetes are dominant organisms among benthic fauna with a widespread distribution in most habitats of the marine environment where they live in direct contact with the water column or the sediments. These organisms are often used as bioindicators of environmental quality and their sensitivity to stressful conditions is revealed by variations at different hierarchical levels of biological organization. Polychaetes have the potential for bioaccumulating toxic chemicals and their use in field conditions might be extended to ecotoxicological applications. Among biochemical systems of increasing interest, the antioxidant defenses play a central role both in adaptation mechanisms and in responding to stressful conditions. The potential toxicity of oxyradicals is normally counteracted by specific antioxidant defenses which act through enzymatic reactions or as direct scavengers of ROS both in the cytosol and in the lipidic phase of membranes. However, the enhanced formation of oxyradicals, as induced by several classes of pollutants, can lead to the impairment of this balance with alterations of the antioxidant efficiency and occurrence of oxidative stress conditions. The aim of this work was a preliminary characterization of trace metal content and antioxidant efficiency in Sabella spallanzani, a sessile tubicolous polychaete with filter feeders life-habit and elevated ecological relevance; the importance of this species as bioindicator is suggested also by the possibility to use these organisms for improving the bioremediation of polluted environments and assessing the efficacy of similar treatments. Trace metals, individual antioxidants and total oxyradical scavenging capacity toward peroxyl radicals, hydroxyl radicals and peroxynitrite were measured in different tissues of organisms collected from 4 different locations with moderate anthropogenic impact, or influenced by the vicinity of a mussel farm or a sulfuric shallow vent. Key words: polychaetes, trace metals, oxyradicals, antioxidants |
