Department of Chemistry, University of Guanajuato, L de Retana N° 5, 36000 Guanajuato, Mexico.
Environ Pollut. 2011 Oct;159(10):2387-92. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2011.06.041. Epub 2011 Jul 22.
In this work, possible relationships between global DNA methylation and metal/metalloid concentrations in earthworms have been explored. Direct correlation was observed between soil and tissue As, Se, Sb, Zn, Cu, Mn, Ag, Co, Hg, Pb (p< 0.05). Speciation results obtained for As and Hg hint at the capability of earthworms for conversion of inorganic element forms present in soil to methylated species. Inverse correlation was observed between the percentage of methylated DNA cytosines and total tissue As, As + Hg, As + Hg + Se + Sb (β = -0.8456, p = 0.071; β = -0.9406, p = 0.017; β = -0.9526, p = 0.012 respectively), as well as inorganic As + Hg (β = -0.8807, p = 0.049). It was concluded that earthworms would be particularly helpful as bioindicators of elements undergoing in vivo methylation and might also be used to assess the related risk of epigenetic changes in DNA methylation.
在这项工作中，探讨了全球 DNA 甲基化与土壤中蚯蚓金属/类金属浓度之间的可能关系。土壤和组织中的 As、Se、Sb、Zn、Cu、Mn、Ag、Co、Hg 和 Pb 呈直接相关（p<0.05）。对 As 和 Hg 的形态分析结果表明，蚯蚓有能力将土壤中存在的无机元素形式转化为甲基化形式。甲基化 DNA 胞嘧啶的百分比与总组织 As、As+Hg、As+Hg+Se+Sb（β=-0.8456，p=0.071；β=-0.9406，p=0.017；β=-0.9526，p=0.012）以及无机 As+Hg（β=-0.8807，p=0.049）呈负相关。结论是，蚯蚓特别有助于作为体内甲基化元素的生物标志物，也可用于评估 DNA 甲基化中与表观遗传变化相关的风险。
