Royal Military College of Canada, Station Forces, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Environ Pollut. 2012 Oct;169:74-80. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2012.04.031. Epub 2012 Jun 8.
Earthworms (Lumbricus castaneous and Dendrodrilus rubidus), their host soils and leaf litter were collected from a former gold mine with widespread arsenic (As) contamination in Nova Scotia, Canada and determined for total and speciated As. Resistance to As toxicity was investigated by measurement of DNA damage in exposed earthworm populations using the comet assay. Arsenobetaine (AB) was observed at low concentration in the earthworms but not in the host soil or leaf litter. Several different organoarsenic species were observed in the leaf litter and only inorganic As was found in the host soils. The results suggest that 1) adaptation to As toxicity in earthworms is widespread and not particular to a single species, 2) AB originates in the earthworm and not the consumed soil or leaf litter and 3) as previously hypothesised (Button et al., 2010), biotransformation of inorganic As to AB is not likely involved in the adaptation.
从加拿大新斯科舍省一个砷污染广泛的废弃金矿中采集了蚯蚓（赤子爱胜蚓和红色爱胜蚓）、它们的宿主土壤和落叶，并对其总砷和砷形态进行了测定。通过彗星试验测定暴露于砷环境下的蚯蚓种群的 DNA 损伤程度，研究了它们对砷毒性的抗性。在蚯蚓体内观察到低浓度的砷甜菜碱（AB），但在宿主土壤或落叶中没有观察到。在落叶中观察到几种不同的有机砷化合物，而在宿主土壤中只发现无机砷。结果表明：1）蚯蚓对砷毒性的适应是广泛的，而不是特定于某一个物种；2）AB 来源于蚯蚓本身，而不是所食用的土壤或落叶；3）正如之前的假设（Button 等人，2010 年），无机砷向 AB 的生物转化不太可能参与这种适应。
