Department of Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121, Naples, Italy.
Department of Biology, University of Pisa, CoNISMa, Via Derna 1, 56126, Pisa, Italy; Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn,Villa Comunale, 80121, Naples, Italy.
Mar Environ Res. 2020 Feb;154:104865. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2019.104865. Epub 2019 Dec 17.
Marine sediments store complex mixtures of compounds, including heavy metals, organotins and a large array of other contaminants. Sediment quality monitoring, characterization and management are priorities, due to potential impacts of the above compounds on coastal waters and their biota, especially in cases of pollutants released during dredging activities. Harbours and marinas, as well as estuaries and bays, where limited exchanges of water occurr, the accumulation of toxic compounds poses major concerns for human and environmental health. Here we report the effects of highly contaminated sediments from the site of national interest Bagnoli-Coroglio (Tyrrhenian Sea, Western Mediterranean) on the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus, considered a good model for ecotoxicological studies. Adult sea urchins were reared one month in aquaria in the presence of contaminated sediment that was experimentally subject to different patterns of re-suspension events (mimicking the effect of natural storms occurring in the field), crossed with O enrichment versus natural gas exchanges in the water. The development of embryos deriving from adult urchins exposed to such experimental conditions was followed until the pluteus stage, checking the power of contaminated sediment to induce morphological malformations and its eventual buffering by high oxygenation. Real-Time qPCR analysis revealed that the expression of several genes (among the fifty analyzed, involved in different functional processes) was targeted by contaminated sediments more than those exposed in oxygen-enriched condition. Our findings have biological and ecological relevance in terms of assessing the actual impact on local organisms of chronic environmental contamination by heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons affecting the Bagnoli-Coroglio area, and of exploring enhanced sediment and water oxygenation as a promising tool to mitigate the effects of contamination in future environmental restoration actions.
海洋沉积物中储存着复杂的化合物混合物，包括重金属、有机锡和大量其他污染物。由于上述化合物对沿海水域及其生物群的潜在影响，特别是在疏浚活动中释放污染物的情况下，沉积物质量监测、特征描述和管理是当务之急。港口和码头、河口和海湾等水交换有限的地方，有毒化合物的积累对人类和环境健康构成了重大关切。在这里，我们报告了来自国家利益点 Bagnoli-Coroglio（第勒尼安海，西地中海）的高度污染沉积物对海胆 Paracentrotus lividus 的影响，海胆被认为是生态毒理学研究的良好模型。成年海胆在水族馆中饲养一个月，在受污染的沉积物中，这些沉积物经历了不同的再悬浮事件模式（模拟现场发生的自然风暴的影响），同时与水中的 O 富集与天然气交换交叉。从暴露于这种实验条件下的成年海胆中发育而来的胚胎一直被跟踪到幼体阶段，检查污染沉积物诱导形态畸形的能力及其通过高氧合作用的最终缓冲作用。实时 qPCR 分析显示，受污染沉积物比富氧条件下暴露的沉积物更能靶向五十个分析的基因中的几个基因（涉及不同的功能过程）的表达。我们的研究结果在评估重金属和多环芳烃对 Bagnoli-Coroglio 地区的慢性环境污染对当地生物的实际影响方面具有生物学和生态学意义，并探索增强沉积物和水的氧合作用作为减轻未来环境恢复行动中污染影响的有前途的工具。
