Several biological levels are considered as signals of environmental perturbations so that integrative biological responses have been proposed in environmental monitoring activities. We evaluated the use of markers in Mytilus galloprovincialis at two different levels (protein nitration and S -nitrosylation, and geometric morphometrics) to investigate the sea coastal environmental status. We studied adductor muscle, digestive gland and valves of mussels collected from 3 sampling sites (2 disturbed + 1 control) in eastern Tyrrhenian Sea, and 2 (1 + 1) in western Ionian Sea. Molecular and morphometric markers showed significant variations in relation to environmental conditions, but the most interesting result was evidenced by the analysis of covariation between both protein post-translational modifications and geometric morphometric descriptors. The main interesting finding regards the relationship between protein nitration values (an irreversible molecular marker) of both adductor muscle and digestive gland, and geometric morphometric descriptors (that are Procrustes’ distances) of valve shapes. Molecular and morphometric markers revealed useful warning systems in detecting environmental changes, even if causes and mechanisms altering both cellular metabolism and shape morphology are still unclear. Our findings suggested that pollutants affected the normal cellular metabolic pathways altering the correct functionality at higher biological levels and producing developmental detrimental noise visible on the shell.

中文翻译：

---

海洋双壳类动物的综合预警系统揭示了沿海栖息地的有害变化

几个生物水平被认为是环境扰动的信号，因此在环境监测活动中提出了综合生物反应。我们评估了在两个不同水平（蛋白质硝化和 S-亚硝基化以及几何形态测量学）在 Mytilus galloprovincialis 中使用标记来调查沿海环境状况。我们研究了从第勒尼安海东部 3 个采样点（2 个扰动 + 1 个对照）和爱奥尼亚海西部的 2 个（1 + 1）采样点收集的贻贝的内收肌、消化腺和瓣膜。分子和形态测量标记显示出与环境条件相关的显着变化，但最有趣的结果是对蛋白质翻译后修饰和几何形态测量描述符之间的协变分析。主要有趣的发现是关于内收肌和消化腺的蛋白质硝化值（一种不可逆的分子标记）与瓣膜形状的几何形态计量学描述符（即 Procrustes 距离）之间的关系。分子和形态测量标记揭示了检测环境变化的有用警告系统，即使改变细胞代谢和形状形态的原因和机制仍不清楚。我们的研究结果表明，污染物影响了正常的细胞代谢途径，在更高的生物水平上改变了正确的功能，并在壳上产生了可见的发育有害噪音。和瓣膜形状的几何形态测量描述符（即 Procrustes 距离）。分子和形态测量标记揭示了检测环境变化的有用警告系统，即使改变细胞代谢和形状形态的原因和机制仍不清楚。我们的研究结果表明，污染物影响了正常的细胞代谢途径，在更高的生物水平上改变了正确的功能，并在壳上产生了可见的发育有害噪音。和瓣膜形状的几何形态测量描述符（即 Procrustes 距离）。分子和形态测量标记揭示了检测环境变化的有用警告系统，即使改变细胞代谢和形状形态的原因和机制仍不清楚。我们的研究结果表明，污染物影响了正常的细胞代谢途径，在更高的生物水平上改变了正确的功能，并在壳上产生了可见的发育有害噪音。