Toxicity of two drugs towards the marine filter feeder Mytilus spp, using biochemical and shell integrity parameters

Using marine mussels to assess the potential ecotoxicological effects of two different commercial microplastics

Microplastics (MPs) in the aquatic environment pose a serious threat to biota, by being confounded with food. These effects occur in mussels which are filter-feeding organisms. Mussels from the genus Mytilus sp. were used to evaluate the ecotoxicological effects of two MPs, polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), after 4 and 28-days. Measured individual endpoints were condition index and feeding rate; and sub-individual parameters, metabolism of phase I (CYP1A1, CYP1A2 and CYP3A4) and II (glutathione S-transferases - GSTs), and antioxidant defense (catalase - CAT). MPs decreased both condition index (CI) and feeding rate (FR). No alterations occurred in metabolic enzymes, suggesting that these MPs are not metabolized by these pathways. Furthermore, lack of alterations in GSTs and CAT activities suggests the absence of conjugation and oxidative stress. Overall, biochemical markers were not responsive, but non-enzymatic responses showed deleterious effects caused by these MPs, which may be of high ecological importance.

Rhodococcus strains as a good biotool for neutralizing pharmaceutical pollutants and obtaining therapeutically valuable products: Through the past into the future

Active pharmaceutical ingredients present a substantial risk when they reach the environment and drinking water sources. As a new type of dangerous pollutants with high chemical resistance and pronounced biological effects, they accumulate everywhere, often in significant concentrations (μg/L) in ecological environments, food chains, organs of farm animals and humans, and cause an intense response from the aquatic and soil microbiota. Rhodococcus spp. (Actinomycetia class), which occupy a dominant position in polluted ecosystems, stand out among other microorganisms with the greatest variety of degradable pollutants and participate in natural attenuation, are considered as active agents with high transforming and degrading impacts on pharmaceutical compounds. Many representatives of rhodococci are promising as unique sources of specific transforming enzymes, quorum quenching tools, natural products and novel antimicrobials, biosurfactants and nanostructures. The review presents the latest knowledge and current trends regarding the use of Rhodococcus spp. in the processes of pharmaceutical pollutants’ biodegradation, as well as in the fields of biocatalysis and biotechnology for the production of targeted pharmaceutical products. The current literature sources presented in the review can be helpful in future research programs aimed at promoting Rhodococcus spp. as potential biodegraders and biotransformers to control pharmaceutical pollution in the environment.