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Assessing the Effect of Contaminated and Restored Marine Sediments in Different Experimental Mesocosms Using an Integrated Approach and Mytilus galloprovincialis as a Model

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Abstract

The research presented here was conducted to ascertain the effectiveness of recovery technologies in remediating a compromised marine environment. The multidisciplinary approach aims to integrate traditional chemical-physical analysis and to assess the biological parameters of Mytilus galloprovincialis within different experimental mesocosms (W, G, and B). In particular, this system was designed to reproduce sediment resuspension in a marine environment, which is thought to be one cause of contaminant release. The study combined morphological and ultrastructural observations with DNA damage assessment and mRNA expression of those genes involved in cellular stress responses. The tissues of mussels maintained in the polluted mesocosm showed a higher accumulation of Pb and Hg than in those maintained in restored mesocosm. This observation correlates well with mRNA expression of MT10 and data on DNA damage. The outcome of the biological evaluation consolidates the chemical characterization and supports the concept that the remediation method should be evaluated at an early stage, both to analytically determine the reduction of toxic components and to assess its ultimate impact on the biological system.

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Abbreviations

GAPDH :

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase

β2M :

Beta-2 microglobulin

HPRT1 :

Hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase 1

βActin :

Beta actin

Tbp :

TATA box-binding protein

RPL13 :

Ribosomal protein L13

CAT :

Catalase

CYP4Y1 :

Mytilus cytochrome P450

GSTP1 :

Glutathione S-transferase

HSP70 :

Heat Shock Protein 70

HSP90 :

Heat Shock Protein 90

MT10 :

Metallothionein 10

SOD1 :

Superoxide dismutase 1

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Silvia Palombella and Ilaria Armenia for their help during the mussel sampling campaign. The authors gratefully acknowledge “Centro Grandi Attrezzature per la Ricerca Biomedica” University of Insubria for making instruments available and for the hospitality. Marina Borgese is a PhD student of the Biotechnology, Biosciences and Surgical Technology course at Università degli Studi dell’Insubria.

Funding

This research was supported by grants of the Italian Ministry on Systems Biology: PRIN (Prot. T7 2010ARBL001/008) and FAR (Fondo comune di Ateneo per la Ricerca 2016 to RG and GB).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Siena, via Mattioli, 4, 53100, Siena, Italy

    Stefania Ancora, Ilaria Caliani, Nicola Bianchi & Claudio Leonzio

  2. Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, University of Insubria, Via Dunant 3, 21100, Varese, Italy

    Federica Rossi, Marina Borgese, Cristina Pirrone, Giovanni Bernardini & Rosalba Gornati

  3. Institute for Biological Resources and Marine Biotechnology (IRBIM)-CNR of Messina, Via San Raineri 86, 98122, Messina, Italy

    Simone Cappello

  4. Electric, Electronics and Computer Engineering Department, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95125, Catania, Italy

    Giuseppe Mancini

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  1. Stefania Ancora
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Correspondence to Rosalba Gornati.

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Ancora, S., Rossi, F., Borgese, M. et al. Assessing the Effect of Contaminated and Restored Marine Sediments in Different Experimental Mesocosms Using an Integrated Approach and Mytilus galloprovincialis as a Model. Mar Biotechnol 22, 411–422 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-020-09961-8

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