Interspecies differences in DNA single strand breaks caused by benzo(a)pyrene and marine environment

The presence of DNA single strand breaks in untreated specimens of selected species, mosquito fish Gambusia affinis, painted comber Serranus scriba, blue mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis, spiny crab Maja crispata and sea cucumber Holothuria tubulosa as well as in 10 mug/g benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) treated mosquito fish, blue mussel and spiny crab was measured, using alkaline filter elution. Interspecies differences in alkaline elution profiles were observed and attributed to different lengths of DNA from different sources and to differences in the number of strand breaks present during normal cellular events in different phyla. Spiny crab hemocytes are more sensitive to action of BaP then blue mussel hemocytes and mosquito fish hepatocytes that could be explained by differences in the rates of distinct metabolic reactions and DNA repair among the investigated species. In field study, DNA single strand breaks were measured in hepatocytes of painted comber and in hemocytes of blue mussel and spiny crab from natural population specimens collected at eight sampling sites along Istrian coast, Croatia. Spatial variations in DNA integrity for each species were detected and revealed for the first time that spiny crab is responsive to different environmental conditions. Interspecies variations in the DNA integrity due to environmental conditions, confirmed species specific susceptibility to genotoxicity of certain environment that in long-term may modify the structure of marine communities. The multi-species approach in designing biomonitoring studies was suggested. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.