Krång Anna-Sara
Department of Marine Ecology, Göteborg University, Kristineberg Marine Research Station, S-450 34, Fiskebäckskil, Sweden.
Aquat Toxicol. 2007 Nov 15;85(1):9-18. doi: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2007.07.012. Epub 2007 Jul 28.
Many crustaceans communicate with pheromones during mating. In the infaunal amphipod Corophium volutator (Pallas), females release gender-specific waterborne pheromones that guide males in their search for receptive burrowed females. Pollutants that affect the pheromone release or impair the ability of males to detect and respond to chemosensory cues, could profoundly affect mating. C. volutator is commonly found on shallow soft sediments in estuaries and coastal waters, and their reproductive season coincides with intense traffic of leisure boats, which discharge high concentrations of fuel into the water and sediment of these areas. This study shows that sublethal exposure to naphthalene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon abundant in motor fuel, disturbs chemical communication in C. volutator. This was demonstrated in Y-maze bioassays, where males were allowed to follow female pheromones after separately exposing the males or females to naphthalene spiked sediments (0, 0.5, 5 or 50 microg g(-1) dw, nominal concentrations) for 3 days. The results show that exposure to naphthalene at the two lower concentrations significantly affects the males' response to female pheromones (p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively). Male search activity was reduced by 27-45% and males could no longer find females by the use of the olfactory sense. Analysed sediment samples, however, indicate that the naphthalene concentrations causing this effect were 2-20 times lower than nominal concentrations. At the highest naphthalene treatment, no significant difference from the controls was found, probably explained by a different exposure regime for these amphipods since they seemingly avoided burrowing in sediments. Female C. volutator produce and release pheromones, despite naphthalene exposure. Disrupted chemical communication in C. volutator may affect the reproductive fitness of males and females with possible consequences for populations in contaminated areas.
许多甲壳类动物在交配期间通过信息素进行交流。在底栖穴居的双壳纲动物科罗菲乌姆涡虫（Pallas）中，雌性释放特定性别的水溶性信息素，引导雄性寻找处于可交配状态的穴居雌性。影响信息素释放或损害雄性检测和响应化学感应线索能力的污染物，可能会对交配产生深远影响。科罗菲乌姆涡虫常见于河口和沿海水域的浅软沉积物中，它们的繁殖季节与休闲船只的密集通行期重合，这些船只向这些区域的水体和沉积物中排放高浓度的燃料。本研究表明，亚致死剂量接触萘（一种在发动机燃料中大量存在的多环芳烃）会干扰科罗菲乌姆涡虫的化学通讯。这在Y型迷宫生物测定中得到了证明，在该测定中，分别将雄性或雌性暴露于添加萘的沉积物（0、0.5、5或50微克/克干重，标称浓度）3天后，让雄性追踪雌性信息素。结果表明，接触两种较低浓度的萘会显著影响雄性对雌性信息素的反应（分别为p<0.05和p<0.01）。雄性的搜索活动减少了27 - 45%，并且雄性不再能够通过嗅觉找到雌性。然而，分析的沉积物样本表明，导致这种效应的萘浓度比标称浓度低2 - 20倍。在最高萘处理组中，未发现与对照组有显著差异，这可能是由于这些双壳纲动物的不同暴露方式，因为它们似乎避免在沉积物中挖掘。尽管接触了萘，雌性科罗菲乌姆涡虫仍会产生并释放信息素。科罗菲乌姆涡虫中化学通讯的中断可能会影响雄性和雌性的生殖适应性，对受污染地区的种群可能产生影响。
