PARENT SESSION

2C - Biomarkers
Poster Hall
8:30 AM - Tuesday, 29 April 2003
Chair: Hansen, P.D.¹, ¹
Co-chair: Vindimian, E.², ²

(TUP/103) Species differences in biomarker response in wrasse and blue mussel at differently polluted Norwegian Fjord sites.

Einsporn, Sonja¹, Broeg, Katja¹, Koehler, Angela¹, ¹ Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany

ABSTRACT- Lysosomal membrane stability was measured in the liver of wrasse (Symhodus melops) and in the digestive gland of the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) caught during a field study at differently contaminated Norwegian Fjords sites. Decreased lysosomal stability indicates toxic stress related to tissue and cell pathologies and accumulation of toxic substances. Frozen liver and digestive gland samples were cut in serial sections and exposed to acid labilization to assess the breakdown of the lysosomal membrane stability by computerized image analysis. Mussel and fish from the reference sites showed the highest membrane stability compared to the polluted sites. The destabilization time of wrasse and mussel was significantly lower at the two sites contaminated by polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and a mixture of organic substances from a kelp factory. At the site of high copper and iron input lysosomal membrane stability was impaired in both species, with a high variability of response in wrasses. Generally, toxic liver injury often coincides with increased storage of neutral lipids inside of lysosomes. Wrasse liver had a high content of neutral lipids at all stations, especially at the site of metal contamination. Yet, the content of neutral lipids in mussel hepatopancreas was not increased at the site of copper and iron contamination. Both species show a similar trend of lysosomal responses at differently contaminated sites. But there are striking differences between mussel and fish with respect to other biomarkers, which need further investigations. We conclude that a suite of biomarker should be used to identify species differences in response of specific contamination situations.

Key words: biomarker, Lysosomal membrane stability, blue mussel, wrasse