Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd (ESR), Porirua 5240, New Zealand.
Land and Water, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, Qld 4102, Australia.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Jun 1;771:145363. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145363. Epub 2021 Jan 24.
Bivalve molluscs have the potential to bioaccumulate microbial pathogens including noroviruses from aquatic environments and as such, there is a need for a rapid and cheap in-situ method for their detection. Here, we characterise the tissue-specific response of New Zealand Greenshell™ mussels (Perna canaliculus) to faecal contamination from two different sources (municipal sewage and human faeces). This is done with the view to identify potential biomarkers that could be further developed into low cost, rapid and sensitive in-situ biosensors for human faecal contamination detection of mussels in growing areas. Tissue-specific metabolic profiles from gills, haemolymph and digestive glands were analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Clear differentiation of metabolic profiles was observed among treatments in each tissue type. Overall, energy pathways such as glycolysis, citrate cycle and oxidative phosphorylation were downregulated across the three mussel tissues studied following simulated contamination events. Conversely, considerable sterol upregulation in the gills was observed after exposure to contamination. Additionally, free pools of nucleotide phosphates and the antioxidant glutathione declined considerably post-exposure to contamination in gills. These results provide important insights into the tissue-specific metabolic effects of human faecal contamination in mussels. This study demonstrates the utility of metabolomics as a tool for identifying potential biomarkers in mussels.
双壳贝类有可能从水生环境中生物蓄积包括诺如病毒在内的微生物病原体，因此，需要一种快速、廉价的原位检测方法。在这里，我们描述了新西兰绿贻贝（Perna canaliculus）对两种不同来源（城市污水和人类粪便）粪便污染的组织特异性反应。其目的是确定潜在的生物标志物，这些标志物可以进一步开发为低成本、快速和敏感的原位生物传感器，用于检测贝类养殖区的人类粪便污染。使用气相色谱-质谱联用仪 (GC-MS) 和液相色谱-质谱联用仪 (LC-MS) 分析了贻贝鳃、血淋巴和消化腺的组织特异性代谢谱。在每种组织类型中，处理之间的代谢谱都有明显的分化。总的来说，在模拟污染事件后，三种贻贝组织中的糖酵解、柠檬酸循环和氧化磷酸化等能量途径均下调。相反，在暴露于污染后，鳃中的固醇显著上调。此外，在鳃中暴露于污染后，核苷酸磷酸的游离池和抗氧化剂谷胱甘肽显著下降。这些结果为贻贝中人类粪便污染的组织特异性代谢效应提供了重要的见解。本研究表明代谢组学作为一种识别贻贝中潜在生物标志物的工具具有实用性。
