Relationship between gonad maturation and heavy metal accumulation in the clam, Galatea paradoxa (Born 1778) from the Volta estuary, Ghana

Do the individual and population-level traits of Donax trunculus reflect the effects of metal contamination in aquatic environments?

Heavy metals are considered a major threat to aquatic ecosystems, due to their ability to penetrate and accumulate through the food chain, putting marine organisms and the ecosystem at risk. This research presents a case study of the Taghazout coast, located in the central Atlantic of Morocco, which has become the focal point of various development projects, including the Taghazout Bay tourist resort. The study aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the harmful effects of these metals on the reproductive cycle and population dynamics of the bivalve Donax trunculus. The assessment of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and copper (Cu) levels in D. trunculus bivalves and sediment at the research location provides evidence of exposure to these metal sources by these bivalves. The analysis of the reproductive cycle revealed a balanced sex ratio of males to females. The Sexual Maturity Index (SMI) and Condition Index (CI) of the bivalves were found to be significantly influenced by trace elements Pb and Cu, as well as environmental factors like temperature, dissolved oxygen, and salinity. The maturity stages of the gonads were classified into five stages: undifferentiated, developing, mature, spawning, and spent. Two spawning periods were observed aligning with the population dynamics study that identified a bimodal recruitment (early autumn and spring) in D. trunculus. The population was found to have 11 size cohorts, with a maximum length of 37.96 cm, a yearly growth rate of 1.93 cm, and a short lifespan of 1.5 years. The high mortality rate of 3.30 per year was attributed to the presence of trace elements in Taghazout coast. These findings shed light on heavy metal's impact on the population of D. trunculus, revealing that a sole emphasis on its physiological or cellular effects may overlook its larger impact.

Heavy metal pollution and the role of inorganic nanomaterials in environmental remediation

Contamination of water and soil with toxic heavy metals is a major threat to human health. Although extensive work has been performed on reporting heavy metal pollutions globally, there are limited review articles on addressing this pernicious phenomenon. This paper reviews inorganic nanoparticles and provides a framework for their qualities required as good nanoadsorbents for efficient removal of heavy metals from water. Different inorganic nanoparticles including metals, metal oxides and metal sulfides nanoparticles have been applied as nanoadsorbents to successfully treat water with high contaminations of heavy metals at concentrations greater than 100 mg l^-1, achieving high adsorption capacities up to 3449 mg g^-1. It has been identified that the synthesis method, selectivity, stability, regeneration and reusability, and adsorbent separation from solution are critical parameters in deciding on the quality of inorganic nanoadsorbents. Surface functionalized nanoadsorbents were found to possess high selectivity and capacity for heavy metals removal from water even at a very low adsorbent dosage of less than 2 g l^-1, which makes them better than conventional adsorbents in environmental remediation.

NanoSIMS Imaging of Bioaccumulation and Subcellular Distribution of Manganese During Oyster Gametogenesis

Many bivalve mollusks display remarkable sex differentiation of gonadal accumulation of manganese (Mn), but the underlying processes responsible for such differences have seldom been explored. In this study, the accumulation of Mn in male and female gonads during the reproductive cycle of oysters was first examined, and the distributions of Mn in oocytes and sperm cells at different developmental stages were imaged by the nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) at the subcellular level. We found that the distribution and accumulation of Mn during oogenesis were closely associated with the formation and translocation of cortical granules. This is the first time that the enrichment of Mn was directly visualized in cortical granules, which was identified as the major storage site of Mn in oocytes of oysters. Yolk granules were revealed as another storage pool of Mn in oyster oocytes with lower accumulation. In contrast, Mn was mainly distributed in the nucleus of sperm cells with accumulation levels much lower than those in cortical and yolk granules of oocytes. These results demonstrated great differences of the subcellular localization and accumulation capacity of Mn between oocytes and sperm cells in oysters, implying the sex differentiation in susceptibility of reproductive response to Mn stress. Our study also highlights the importance of gender difference in future biomonitoring and ecotoxicological studies of Mn in marine bivalves.

Trace Metals Do Not Accumulate Over Time in The Edible Mediterranean Jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) from Urban Coastal Waters

Jellyfish as food represent a millennial tradition in Asia. Recently, jellyfish have also been proposed as a valuable source of protein in Western countries. To identify health risks associated with the potential human consumption of jellyfish as food, trace element accumulation was assessed in the gonads and umbrella tissues of the Mediterranean Rhizostoma pulmo (Macri, 1778), sampled over a period of 16 months along the shallow coastal waters a short distance from the city of Taranto, an area affected by metallurgic and oil refinery sources of pollution. Higher tissue concentrations of trace elements were usually detected in gonads than in umbrella tissue. In particular, significant differences in the toxic metalloid As, and in the metals Mn, Mo, and Zn, were observed among different tissues. The concentrations of vanadium were slightly higher in umbrella tissues than in gonads. No positive correlation was observed between element concentration and jellyfish size, suggesting the lack of bioaccumulation processes. Moreover, toxic element concentrations in R. pulmo were found below the threshold levels for human consumption allowed by Australian, USA, and EU Food Regulations. These results corroborate the hypothesis that R. pulmo is a safe, potentially novel food source, even when jellyfish are harvested from coastal areas affected by anthropogenic impacts.

Differential effects of zinc exposure on male and female oysters (Crassostrea angulata) as revealed by label-free quantitative proteomics

Oysters accumulate Zn as an adaptation to Zn exposure; however, it is not known whether male and female oysters respond differently to Zn exposure. Proteomic and real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses were used to investigate differential responses of male and female oysters (Crassostrea angulata) to Zn exposure. After exposure to 50 μg L^-1 or 500 μg L^-1 Zn for 30 d, gonads of female oysters accumulated more Zn than those of males, and gonadal development was accelerated in females but was abnormal in males. Differentially expressed proteins after exposure to Zn were identified and shown to function in Zn transport, Ca transport, phosphate metabolism, energy metabolism, immune regulation, oxidative stress responses, gene expression regulation, and fat metabolism. Proteins with functions in Zn transportation and storage, and multifunctional proteins, such as hemicentin-1 and histidinol dehydrogenase, were expressed at significantly higher levels in the gonads of female than male oysters after Zn exposure. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:2602-2613. © 2017 SETAC.

Differential effects of bisphenol A toxicity on oyster (Crassostrea angulata) gonads as revealed by label-free quantitative proteomics

Bisphenol A (BPA) is widely used in industry, and is released in large amounts into the environment. BPA is a teratogen and an estrogen receptor agonist and negatively affects reproduction, particularly in aquatic animals, which is of concern for the aquaculture industry. Although there is a large body of literature on the mechanisms that underlie BPA disruption and the effects of different toxicities on invertebrate reproduction, many of the mechanisms involved in invertebrate responses to BPA remain unknown. In this study, we investigated the effects of BPA on the reproduction of female and male oysters (Crassostrea angulata), and measured BPA bioaccumulation, the gonad-somatic index (GSI), and gonadal protein profiles in oysters exposed to BPA. Compared to controls, approximately 160-times more BPA accumulated in the gonads of male and female oysters after exposure to 2 mg L^-1 BPA for 16 days. Gonadal development was negatively affected in males, but was accelerated in females when exposed to BPA, based on GSI analysis and a visual inspection of histological sections of the gonads. BPA exposure induced the differential expression of many important proteins such as vitellogenin, periostin, phosphoglucomutase, collagen alpha-1(XII) chain, and zinc transporter 9, which are involved in energy metabolism, oxidative stress, gene transcription regulation, the vitellogenin interaction network, and zinc transportation. A functional analysis of these proteins indicated that BPA has different effects on gonadal development in male and female oysters.

Reproductive responses and detoxification of estuarine oyster Crassostrea hongkongensis under metal stress: a seasonal study

Understanding the impacts of metal stress on the reproduction of dominant species, such as oysters, in seriously contaminated estuarine environments has great ecological implications. In the present study, the reproductive conditions were examined monthly for 1 year in oysters Crassostrea hongkongensis from a heavily metal-contaminated site (Baijiao, mainly by Cu and Zn) in the Jiulong River estuary and a relatively clean nearby estuary (Jiuzhen). Oysters sampled in the contaminated site showed a delayed gametogenesis, a relatively shorter spawning period, and a lower gonad condition index in comparison to the oysters sampled in the reference site. In particular, we found that the proportion of females increased significantly in the contaminated oysters, which provided the first evidence that the feminization in wild oyster populations could be related to trace metal pollution. Additionally, the potential detoxification mechanism of trace metals in oysters was also investigated. Compartmentalization of trace metals in membrane-limited vesicles in hemocytes could be an important detoxification mechanism for the contaminated oysters. Our findings indicated that the long-term metal exposure may greatly influence the reproduction of the oysters and finally affect the recruitment and population of this species.

Effect of chronic sublethal exposure of major heavy metals on filtration rate, sex ratio, and gonad development of a bivalve species

The chronic toxic effects of major heavy metals including copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd) on the filtration rate (FR), sex ratio, and gonad development of immature blood clams, Tegillarca granosa, were investigated. The FRs were significantly inhibited by Cu, Pb and Cd, with rates generally decreasing with both increasing metal concentrations and exposure time. EC50 values for FR after 28 days of exposure were 12.9, 12.7 and 14.4 μg/L for Cu, Pb and Cd, respectively. Zn exposure had no effect on FR. Sex ratios were significantly altered from controls in favor of an increased proportion of males at metal concentrations of ≥ 14.2, ≥ 86 and ≥ 110 μg/L for Cu, Pb and Cd, respectively; and at ≥ 1.68 mg/L for Zn. The gonado-somatic index was significantly reduced in clams at all metal exposures, except for the lowest concentration of Cu (7.1 μg/L).

Length-weight relationship of the freshwater clam, Galatea paradoxa (born 1778) from the Volta Estuary, Ghana

The length-weight relationship of the threatened freshwater clam, Galatea paradoxa (Born 1778) from the Volta Estuary, Ghana was studied over a two-year period, from March 2008 to February 2010, to aid in the development of stock assessment models for the sustainable management of the remaining clam stock. Data reported in this study were collected at monthly intervals and covered varying depths of the Estuary ranging from 0.5 to about 10 m. Overall, a total of 5276 clams with shell lengths ranging from 3.40 to 89.24 mm and total weight from 0.10 to 154.00 g were sampled during the study period. The length-weight relationships were highly significant (p < 0.0001) for all the months and the b-values ranged from 2.023 (January 2010) to 3.874 (June 2009). The calculated b-values indicated that clams exhibited different growth patterns at different periods but overall, the pooled samples of 5276 individuals exhibited an isometric growth pattern (b = 3.003). The observed monthly growth patterns exhibited by G. paradoxa appeared to be largely influenced by the reproductive cycle of the organism. During the periods leading to spawning, the clams generally exhibited positive allometric growth patterns (weight increasing faster than length) which appeared to be strongly linked to the build-up of proteins and carbohydrates in their tissues. Successive negative allometric growth patterns (length increasing faster relative to weight) were, however, observed from March to June 2008 and from December 2009 to February 2010, which are possibly indicative of the loss in tissue weight that occurs as a direct result of the spawning process. It will thus be suitable to institute a close season to coincide with the spawning period of the clams to avoid the harvesting of clams during the spawning period which will enhance future recruitment of the clam stock.