Teleost fish (Solea solea): a novel model for ecotoxicological assay of contaminated sediments.

Chemical analysis of sediment is not indicative of the downstream biological effects on aquatic organisms. In this study, the biological effects of sediment were examined using: Teleost fish (Solea solea), Artemia and rotifers. Although chemicals levels were below the limits permissible by Italian law, S. solea juveniles exposed to sediment (0.3%, w/v) for 96 h, revealed significant induction in the expression levels of HSP70, ERα, TRα, RXRα, PPARα, PPARß, CYP4501A1 and CYP3A mRNAs, suggesting the utility of this species as a novel biosensor. The bio-toxicity of the sediment was further validated by exposing Artemia and rotifers to concentrations of elutriate (derived from the sediment) from 10 to 100% (v/v) (with a 50% mortality rate). These results suggest that sediment defined as moderately contaminated, solely on the basis of the chemical profile, may in fact cause harmful effects to aquatic organisms. This study highlights the need for biological approaches in the establishment of sediment toxicity levels.

Biological effects of marine contaminated sediments on Sparus aurata juveniles.

Chemical analysis of the compounds present in sediment, although informative, often is not indicative of the downstream biological effects that these contaminants exert on resident aquatic organisms. More direct molecular methods are needed to determine if marine life is affected by exposure to sediments. In this study, we used an aquatic multi-species microarray and q-PCR to investigate the effects on gene expression in juvenile sea bream (Sparus aurata) of two contaminated sediments defined as sediment 1 and 2, respectively, from marine areas in Northern Italy. Both sediments affected gene expression as evidenced by aquatic multi-species microarray analysis and q-PCR. Exposure of S. aurata juveniles to sediment 1 and sediment 2 altered expression of genes that are biomarkers for endocrine disruption. There were differences between the effects of sediment 1 and sediment 2 on gene expression in S. aurata juveniles indicating that the chemicals in the two sediments had different physiological targets. These results suggest that the classification of sediment solely on the basis of specific chemical profiles is inadequate, and not a true indicator of its potential to cause harmful effects. Our data also indicate that integration of physiochemical analysis and bioassays for monitoring the downstream harmful effects on aquatic organisms are required to gain a complete understanding of the effects of sediment on aquatic life.