Quinn Brian, Gagné François, Blaise Christian
Irish Centre for Environmental Toxicology, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, Ireland.
Int J Dev Biol. 2012;56(6-8):613-25. doi: 10.1387/ijdb.113469bq.
Hydra have been extensively used for studying the teratogenic and toxic potential of numerous toxins throughout the years and are more recently growing in popularity to assess the impacts of environmental pollutants. Hydra are an appropriate bioindicator species for use in environmental assessment owing to their easily measurable physical (morphology), biochemical (xenobiotic biotransformation; oxidative stress), behavioural (feeding) and reproductive (sexual and asexual) endpoints. Hydra also possess an unparalleled ability to regenerate, allowing the assessment of teratogenic compounds and the impact of contaminants on stem cells. Importantly, Hydra are ubiquitous throughout freshwater environments and relatively easy to culture making them appropriate for use in small scale bioassay systems. Hydra have been used to assess the environmental impacts of numerous environmental pollutants including metals, organic toxicants (including pharmaceuticals and endocrine disrupting compounds), nanomaterials and industrial and municipal effluents. They have been found to be among the most sensitive animals tested for metals and certain effluents, comparing favourably with more standardised toxicity tests. Despite their lack of use in formalised monitoring programmes, Hydra have been extensively used and are regarded as a model organism in aquatic toxicology.
多年来，水螅已被广泛用于研究多种毒素的致畸和毒性潜力，最近在评估环境污染物的影响方面也越来越受到欢迎。由于水螅具有易于测量的物理（形态学）、生化（外源性生物转化；氧化应激）、行为（摄食）和生殖（有性和无性）终点，它们是用于环境评估的合适生物指示物种。水螅还具有无与伦比的再生能力，可用于评估致畸化合物以及污染物对干细胞的影响。重要的是，水螅在淡水环境中无处不在且相对易于培养，使其适用于小规模生物测定系统。水螅已被用于评估多种环境污染物的环境影响，包括金属、有机毒物（包括药物和内分泌干扰化合物）、纳米材料以及工业和城市废水。已发现它们是对金属和某些废水测试最敏感的动物之一，与更标准化的毒性测试相比具有优势。尽管水螅在正式监测计划中未被使用，但它们已被广泛应用，并被视为水生毒理学中的模式生物。
