Qualité biologique de l’eau de mer évaluée in situ par le test embryo-larvaire de Crassostrea gigas et Mytilus galloprovincialis = In situ monitoring of sea water quality with the embryo-larval bioassay of Crassostrea gigas and Mytilus galloprovincialis

Embryos and larvae of bivalves are frequently used in marine ecotoxicology for the purpose of assessing seawater quality, because they are very sensitive to pollutants and provide rapid responses. Laboratory studies, however, cannot accurately simulate natural conditions. We conducted bivalve embryo-larval studies in situ at the marina of Arcachon (southwest French Atlantic coast), in order to assess ‘biological quality’ of the water. One experiment conducted in winter 1999 (temperatures of 10 °C) with embryos of the Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis, has shown that such tests are practicable in winter at low temperatures. This study did not show any deterioration in ‘biological quality’ of the water. Four series of experiments were subsequently performed during summer 2000 (ambient water temperatures of 19 to 22.4 °C) with embryos of the Japanese oyster, Crassostrea gigas. The results show that the ‘sea water biological quality’ deteriorates from the port entrance towards its inner part. To our knowledge, this is the first investigation of the marine environment in which bivalve embryos have been used in situ. They are very suitable for this type of study, because bivalve embryos and larvae are more sensitive to pollutants than the adults, and also because they belong to euryhaline species and the embryos tolerate summer temperatures (both species) as well as winter temperatures (mussels), allowing biomonitoring to be conducted all over the year

Caged Gammarus fossarum (crustacea) as a robust tool for the characterization of bioavailable contamination levels in continental waters. Toward the determination of threshold values

We investigated the suitability of an active biomonitoring approach, using the ecologically relevant species Gammarus fossarum, to assess trends of bioavailable contamination in continental waters. Gammarids were translocated into cages at 27 sites, in the Rhône-Alpes region (France) during early autumn 2009. Study sites were chosen to represent different physico-chemical characteristics and various anthropic pressures. Biotic factors such as sex, weight and food availability were controlled in order to provide robust and comparable results. After one week of exposure, concentrations of 11 metals/metalloids (Cd, Pb, Hg, Ni, Zn, Cr, Co, Cu, As, Se and Ag) and 38 hydrophobic organic substances including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorobiphenyles (PCBs), pentabromodiphenylethers (PBDEs) and organochlorine pesticides, were measured in gammarids. All metals except Ag, and 33 organic substances among 38 were quantified in G. fossarum, showing that this species is relevant for chemical biomonitoring. The control of biotic factors allowed a robust and direct inter-site comparison of the bioavailable contamination levels. Overall, our results show the interest and robustness of the proposed methodological approach for assessing trends of bioavailable contamination, notably for metals and hydrophobic organic contaminants, in continental waters. Furthermore, we built threshold values of bioavailable contamination in gammarids, above which measured concentrations are expected to reveal a bioavailable contamination at the sampling site. Two ways to define such values were investigated, a statistical approach and a model fit. Threshold values were determined for almost all the substances investigated in this study and similar values were generally derived from the two approaches. Then, levels of contaminants measured in G. fossarum at the 27 study were compared to the threshold values obtained using the model fit. These threshold values could serve as a basis for further implementation of quality grids to rank sites according to the extent of the bioavailable contamination, with regard to the applied methodology

Effet à long terme d'injections intracérébroventriculaires d'anticorps dopaminergiques sur l'hypersensibilité comportementale chez la souris

ln the present study the effect ofrepeated intracerebroventricular (ICV) of anti-conjugated dopamine antibodies (Acm anti-DAc) was investigated on behavioural supersensitivity and eating behavior. Mice were injected in ICV (with an ICV cannula) with either Acm anti-DAc or no immuns immunoglobulins (IgNI) twice a week for 5 weeks, their behavioural supersensitivity to apomorphine (0.05 mglkg) were measured. The results showed that Repeated intracerebroventricular injections of anti conjugated dopamine antibodies produced a behavioural supersensitivity to apomorphine. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the behavioural supersensitivity is not due to DA celllosses in the substantia nigra or the ventral tegmentum area. Key words: Dopaminergic antibodies, Intracerebroventricular injections, Behavioural supersensitivity, Mice  Des injections intracérébroventriculaires répétées de l'anticorps monoclonal anti-dopamine conjuguée (ACm antiDAc) chez des souris Balb/c entraînent, pendant 8 semaines après la fin des injections, une hypersensibilité comportementale. L'analyse immunohistochimique montre que cette hypersensibilité ne semble pas liée directement à une perte des cellules DA dans la substance noire et dans l'aire tegmentale ventrale. Mots clés: Anticorps dopaminergiques, Injections intracérébroventriculaires, Hypersensibilité comportementale, Souri

Modèles ecologiques pour l'extrapolation des effets écotoxicologiques enregistrés lors de biotests in situ cheZ Gammarus

[Departement_IRSTEA]Eaux [TR1_IRSTEA]BELCAInternational audienceEvaluating the effects of chemical contamination on populations and ecological communities still constitutes a challenging necessity in environmental management. However the toxic effects of contaminants are commonly measured by means of organism-level responses. Linking such effects measures with ecological models is a promising way to apprehend population-level impacts. In this way, population models are currently increasingly used in predictive risk assessment procedures, but their use in environmental diagnostic framework remains limited due to their lack of ecological realism. The present study with the crustacean amphipod Gammarus fossarum, a sentinel species in freshwater monitoring, combines a dual field and laboratory experimental approach with a population modelling framework. In this way, we developed an ecologically-relevant periodic matrix population model for Gammarus. This model allowed us to capture the population dynamics in the field, and to understand the particular pattern of demographic sensitivities induced by Gammarus life-history phenology. The model we developed provided a robust population-level assessment of in situ-based effects measures recorded during a biomonitoring program on a French watershed impacted by past mining activities. Thus, our study illustrates the potential of population modelling when seeking to decipher the role of environmental toxic contamination in ecological perturbations

Distribution of the Octopamine Receptor AmOA1 in the Honey Bee Brain

Octopamine plays an important role in many behaviors in invertebrates. It acts via binding to G protein coupled receptors located on the plasma membrane of responsive cells. Several distinct subtypes of octopamine receptors have been found in invertebrates, yet little is known about the expression pattern of these different receptor subtypes and how each subtype may contribute to different behaviors. One honey bee (Apis mellifera) octopamine receptor, AmOA1, was recently cloned and characterized. Here we continue to characterize the AmOA1 receptor by investigating its distribution in the honey bee brain. We used two independent antibodies produced against two distinct peptides in the carboxyl-terminus to study the distribution of the AmOA1 receptor in the honey bee brain. We found that both anti-AmOA1 antibodies revealed labeling of cell body clusters throughout the brain and within the following brain neuropils: the antennal lobes; the calyces, pedunculus, vertical (alpha, gamma) and medial (beta) lobes of the mushroom body; the optic lobes; the subesophageal ganglion; and the central complex. Double immunofluorescence staining using anti-GABA and anti-AmOA1 receptor antibodies revealed that a population of inhibitory GABAergic local interneurons in the antennal lobes express the AmOA1 receptor in the cell bodies, axons and their endings in the glomeruli. In the mushroom bodies, AmOA1 receptors are expressed in a subpopulation of inhibitory GABAergic feedback neurons that ends in the visual (outer half of basal ring and collar regions) and olfactory (lip and inner basal ring region) calyx neuropils, as well as in the collar and lip zones of the vertical and medial lobes. The data suggest that one effect of octopamine via AmOA1 in the antennal lobe and mushroom body is to modulate inhibitory neurons

Review Of Ecotoxicological Studies Of The Marine And Estuarine Environments Of The Baixada Santista (São Paulo, Brazil)

The aim of the present study was to identify, through ecotoxicological assays, the most critical areas in the Baixada Santista area by compiling scientific papers and technical reports of the state environmental agency. Sediment samples were assessed employing Tiburonella viscana, Leptocheirus plumulosus, Nitokra sp., and embryos of Lytechinus variegatus and Perna perna. Water column samples were assessed by using Vibrio fischeri and Lytechinus variegatus. A total of 217 samples were compiled. It was found that the frequency of acute toxicity was higher in integral sediment samples from the Santos Channel (70.68%) and the lowest frequency was obtained for Bertioga beach samples (15%). Sediment from the Santos and São Vicente Channels, Santos Bay and the area for the disposal of dredged material are the places most affected, whereas the beaches of Guarujá and Bertioga presented low levels of toxicity. No ecotoxicological studies were found in Mongaguá, Itanhaém or Peruíbe cities