Kroon Frederieke, Streten Claire, Harries Simon
Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
Australian Institute of Marine Science, Arafura Timor Research Facility, Brinkin, Northern Territory, Australia.
PLoS One. 2017 Apr 12;12(4):e0174762. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174762. eCollection 2017.
Biomarkers have been used extensively to provide the connection between external levels of contaminant exposure, internal levels of tissue contamination, and early adverse effects in organisms.
To present a three-step protocol for identifying suitable biomarkers to assess fish health in coastal and marine ecosystems, using Gladstone Harbour (Australia) as a case study.
Prior to applying our protocol, clear working definitions for biomarkers were developed to ensure consistency with the global literature on fish health assessment. First, contaminants of concern were identified based on the presence of point and diffuse sources of pollution and available monitoring data for the ecosystem of interest. Second, suitable fish species were identified using fisheries dependent and independent data, and prioritised based on potential pathways of exposure to the contaminants of concern. Finally, a systematic and critical literature review was conducted on the use of biomarkers to assess the health of fish exposed to the contaminants of concern.
RESULTS/DISCUSSION: We present clear working definitions for bioaccumulation markers, biomarkers of exposure, biomarkers of effect and biomarkers of susceptibility. Based on emission and concentration information, seven metals were identified as contaminants of concern for Gladstone Harbour. Twenty out of 232 fish species were abundant enough to be potentially suitable for biomarker studies; five of these were prioritised based on potential pathways of exposure and susceptibility to metals. The literature search on biomarkers yielded 5,035 articles, of which 151met the inclusion criteria. Based on our review, the most suitable biomarkers include bioaccumulation markers, biomarkers of exposure (CYP1A, EROD, SOD, LPOX, HSP, MT, DNA strand breaks, micronuclei, apoptosis), and biomarkers of effect (histopathology, TAG:ST).
Our protocol outlines a clear pathway to identify suitable biomarkers to assess fish health in coastal and marine ecosystems, which can be applied to biomarker studies in aquatic ecosystems around the world.
生物标志物已被广泛用于建立污染物外部暴露水平、组织污染内部水平与生物体早期不良反应之间的联系。
以澳大利亚格拉德斯通港为例，提出一个三步方案，用于识别合适的生物标志物以评估沿海和海洋生态系统中的鱼类健康状况。
在应用我们的方案之前，制定了生物标志物的明确工作定义，以确保与全球鱼类健康评估文献保持一致。首先，根据感兴趣生态系统中存在的点源和非点源污染以及可用的监测数据，确定关注的污染物。其次，利用依赖渔业和独立于渔业的数据识别合适的鱼类物种，并根据接触关注污染物的潜在途径对其进行优先级排序。最后，对使用生物标志物评估接触关注污染物的鱼类健康状况进行了系统且严格的文献综述。
结果/讨论：我们给出了生物累积标志物、暴露生物标志物、效应生物标志物和易感性生物标志物的明确工作定义。根据排放和浓度信息，确定了七种金属为格拉德斯通港关注的污染物。232种鱼类中有20种数量足够多，有可能适合进行生物标志物研究；其中五种根据接触金属的潜在途径和易感性被列为优先研究对象。关于生物标志物的文献检索共得到5035篇文章，其中151篇符合纳入标准。根据我们的综述，最合适的生物标志物包括生物累积标志物、暴露生物标志物（CYP1A、EROD、SOD、LPOX、HSP、MT、DNA链断裂、微核、细胞凋亡）和效应生物标志物（组织病理学、TAG:ST）。
我们的方案概述了一条明确的途径，用于识别合适的生物标志物以评估沿海和海洋生态系统中的鱼类健康状况，该方案可应用于全球水生生态系统的生物标志物研究。
