engleski

Genotoxicity monitoring of freshwater environment: comet and micronucleus assays

Genotoxicity monitoring of freshwater environment, as a part of the Crowat project, included three weeks caging exposure of bivalves and fish on the reference site (in the Nature park Kopacki rit) and two polluted sites in the river Drava (downstream municipal and industrial waste water outlets of towns Osijek and Belisce), eastern Slavonia (Croatia). The DNA damage was assessed by micronucleus and alkaline single cell gell electrophoresis (comet) assays on haemocytes of painter’ s mussel (Unio pictorum), and common carp erythrocytes (Cyprinus carpio). Statistically significant increase in DNA damage measured by comet assay was observed in both species exposed at polluted sites, while the increase in frequency of micronuclei was significant only in haemocytes of painter’ s mussel. The sensitivity of the alkaline comet assay is very high, but it detects mostly repairable DNA lesions (alkali labile sites, single strand DNA breakages) indicating recent pollution status. The micronucleus assay detects more persistent DNA lesions (double strand DNA breakages) and aneugenic effects that cannot be repaired, but requires cell division and it is therefore primary defined by the cell cycle kinetic. Hence, the combined use of these two assays in genotoxicity monitoring is advantageous because they seem to complement each other. The Norweigan Research Council is acknowledged for the support of Project No. 150463.

biomonitoring; genotoxicity; Unio pictorum; Cyprinus carpio

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