Higher silver bioavailability after nanoparticle dietary exposure in marine amphipods

On release into surface waters, engineered silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) tend to settle to sediments and, consequently, epibenthic fauna will be exposed to them through diet. We established Ag uptake and accumulation profiles over time in the hemolymph of a marine amphipod fed with a formulated feed containing AgNPs or AgCl. Silver bioavailability was higher in organisms exposed to AgNPs, indicating that the nanoparticles pose a higher risk of toxicity compared to similar concentrations of AgCl384806810CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal e Nível SuperiorCNPQ - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e TecnológicoFAPESP – Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa Do Estado De São Paulo2013/26301‐7sem informação400362/2014‐7; 552120/2011‐

Blue rayon e teste Salmonella/microssoma na avaliação da qualidade de águas costeiras

OBJECTIVE: To develop a strategy for water quality monitoring for the presence of genotoxins and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. METHODS: A study was carried out in Santos estuary, Southern Brazil, in 2002. Two sampling sites with different concentration levels were selected and evaluated in different samplings using blue rayon hanging technique, chemical analyses, and Salmonella/microsome assay with bacterial strains sensitive to different compounds. The extracts were tested using the Salmonella/microsome assay in microsuspension with the strains TA98, TA100, YG1041, and YG1042 in the absence and presence of metabolic activation and through chemical analyses. RESULTS: Site 1, which had high concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in its sediment, showed more often positive results in the Salmonella/microsome assay as well as higher polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons concentrations in both samplings compared to site 2, which was less contaminated. YG1041 strain showed to be the most sensitive allowing for comparisons between the sites with different levels of contamination. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of the blue rayon hanging technique with the Salmonella/microsome assay using YG1041 strain and chemical analyses were effective in recovering genotoxins as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons tested in this study. Therefore this strategy seems to be adequate for water quality monitoring in Santos estuary.OBJETIVO: Desenvolver estratégia para o monitoramento passivo das águas do estuário de Santos quanto à presença de atividade genotóxica e de hidrocarbonetos policíclicos aromáticos. MÉTODOS: Estudo realizado no estuário de Santos, Estado de São Paulo, em 2002. Foram selecionados e avaliados dois pontos de amostragem com diferentes graus de contaminação em duas campanhas de amostragem, utilizando a técnica de blue rayon in situ, análises químicas e o ensaio de Salmonella/microssoma com as linhagens bacterianas sensíveis a diferentes classes de compostos. Os extratos foram submetidos ao teste de Salmonella/microssoma em microssuspensão com as linhagens TA98, TA100, YG1041 e YG1042 na presença e ausência de ativação metabólica, e a análises químicas. RESULTADOS: O ponto 1, que apresentou sedimento com altas concentrações de hidrocarbonetos policíclicos aromáticos, mostrou maior freqüência de resultados positivos para o ensaio Samonella/microssoma e maiores concentrações de hidrocarbonetos policíclicos aromáticos em ambas as campanhas em comparação com o ponto 2, menos contaminado. A linhagem que se mostrou mais sensível foi a YG1041, que permitiu comparações entre locais com diferentes graus de contaminação. CONCLUSÕES: A combinação da técnica de blue rayon in situ com o ensaio Salmonella/microsoma com a linhagem YG1041 e as análises químicas se mostraram eficientes. Foi possível recuperar os compostos genotóxicos, e os hidrocarbonetos policíclicos aromáticos analisados, parecendo ser uma estratégia adequada para o monitoramento da qualidade das águas do estuário de Santos

Effect of Hybrid Type and Harvesting Season on Phytochemistry and Antibacterial Activity of Extracted Metabolites from Salix Bark

Hundreds of different fast-growing Salix hybrids have been developed mainly for energy crops. In this paper, we studied water extracts from the bark of 15 willow hybrids and species as potential antimicrobial additives. Treatment of ground bark in water under mild conditions extracted 12-25% of the dry material. Preparative high-performance liquid chromatography is proven here as a fast and highly efficient tool in the small-scale recovery of raffinose from Salix bark crude extracts for structural elucidation. Less than half of the dissolved material was assigned by chromatographic (gas chromatography and liquid chromatography) and spectroscopic (mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy) techniques for low-molecular-weight compounds, including mono- and oligosaccharides (sucrose, raffinose, and stachyose) and aromatic phytochemicals (triandrin, catechin, salicin, and picein). The composition of the extracts varied greatly depending on the hybrid or species and the harvesting season. This information generated new scientific knowledge on the variation in the content and composition of the extracts between Salix hybrids and harvesting season depending on the desired molecule. The extracts showed high antibacterial activity on Staphylococcus aureus with a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.6-0.8 mg/mL; however, no inhibition was observed against Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, and Salmonella typhimurium. MIC of triandrin (i.e., 1.25 mg/mL) is reported for the first time. Although antibacterial triandrin and (+)-catechin were present in extracts, clear correlation between the antibacterial effect and the chemical composition was not established, which indicates that antibacterial activity of the extracts mainly originates from some not yet elucidated substances. Aquatic toxicity and mutagenicity assessments showed the safe usage of Salix water extracts as possible antibacterial additives.Peer reviewe

Toxicity responses for marine invertebrate species of brazilian occurrence

To assess the risk of chemical contaminants it is desirable to derive toxicity data from representative species of the ecosystem intended to be protected. However, species of occurrence in Brazil are rarely used in toxicity tests, especially for marine and estuarine environments. To address this need, we evaluated the toxicity of different toxicants such as metals and organic compounds to marine invertebrates of Brazilian occurrence, representative from tropical regions and cultivated in laboratory. We used two epibenthic test species of Brazilian occurrence, Parhyale hawaiensis, a deposit feeding amphipod and Nitocra sp, a harpacticoid copepod. Nitocra sp. was more sensitive than other copepods to zinc, and more sensitive than P. hawaiensis to disperse dyes. Sensitivity species distribution revealed that Nitocra sp. and P. hawaiensis were similarly responsive as other marine species to zinc, and Nitocra sp. was among of the most sensitive species. Moreover, our study highlighted that organic compounds are poorly explored in toxicity evaluation with marine organisms; therefore, more studies need to be carried out to assess the toxicity of different substances using marine and estuarine organisms representative of tropical ecosystems

Waterless Dyeing and In Vitro Toxicological Properties of Biocolorants from Cortinarius sanguineus

As a part of an ongoing interest in identifying environmentally friendly alternatives to synthetic dyes and in using liquid CO2 as a waterless medium for applying the resulting colorants to textiles, our attention turned to yellow-to-red biocolorants produced by Cortinarius sanguineus fungus. The three principal target anthraquinone colorants (emodin, dermocybin, and dermorubin) were isolated from the fungal bodies using a liquid–liquid separation method and characterized using 700 MHz NMR and high-resolution mass spectral analyses. Following structure confirmations, the three colorants were examined for dyeing synthetic polyester (PET) textile fibers in supercritical CO2. We found that all three biocolorants were suitable for dyeing PET fibers using this technology, and our attention then turned to determining their toxicological properties. As emodin has shown mutagenic potential in previous studies, we concentrated our present toxicity studies on dermocybin and dermorubin. Both colorants were non-mutagenic, presented low cellular toxicity, and did not induce skin sensitization. Taken together, our results indicate that dermocybin and dermorubin possess the technical and toxicological properties needed for consideration as synthetic dye alternatives under conditions that are free of wastewater production

Obituary for Tamara Grummt

Tamara Grummt passed away on January 26, 2020 in Oelsnitz/Vogtland, Germany. Tamara was one of the scientific pioneers in the field of environmental toxicology, namely genotoxicity and hygiene of drinking and bathing waters. Her passing is not only a great loss to environmental research and to the global environmental toxicology community—we have lost an outstanding personality with the heart in the right place, who has become, for many of us, a wonderful friend

Future water quality monitoring--adapting tools to deal with mixtures of pollutants in water resource management

Environmental quality monitoring of water resources is challenged with providing the basis for safeguarding the environment against adverse biological effects of anthropogenic chemical contamination from diffuse and point sources. While current regulatory efforts focus on monitoring and assessing a few legacy chemicals, many more anthropogenic chemicals can be detected simultaneously in our aquatic resources. However, exposure to chemical mixtures does not necessarily translate into adverse biological effects nor clearly shows whether mitigation measures are needed. Thus, the question which mixtures are present and which have associated combined effects becomes central for defining adequate monitoring and assessment strategies. Here we describe the vision of the international, EU-funded project SOLUTIONS, where three routes are explored to link the occurrence of chemical mixtures at specific sites to the assessment of adverse biological combination effects. First of all, multi-residue target and non-target screening techniques covering a broader range of anticipated chemicals co-occurring in the environment are being developed. By improving sensitivity and detection limits for known bioactive compounds of concern, new analytical chemistry data for multiple components can be obtained and used to characterise priority mixtures. This information on chemical occurrence will be used to predict mixture toxicity and to derive combined effect estimates suitable for advancing environmental quality standards. Secondly, bioanalytical tools will be explored to provide aggregate bioactivity measures integrating all components that produce common (adverse) outcomes even for mixtures of varying compositions. The ambition is to provide comprehensive arrays of effect-based tools and trait-based field observations that link multiple chemical exposures to various environmental protection goals more directly and to provide improved in situ observations for impact assessment of mixtures. Thirdly, effect-directed analysis (EDA) will be applied to identify major drivers of mixture toxicity. Refinements of EDA include the use of statistical approaches with monitoring information for guidance of experimental EDA studies. These three approaches will be explored using case studies at the Danube and Rhine river basins as well as rivers of the Iberian Peninsula. The synthesis of findings will be organised to provide guidance for future solution-oriented environmental monitoring and explore more systematic ways to assess mixture exposures and combination effects in future water quality monitoring.</p

Avaliação da atividade mutagenica de extratos organicos de corpos d'agua do estado de São Paulo atraves do teste de Ames

Orientador : Renato Bonatelli JrTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadualde Campinas, Instituto de BiologiaDoutoradoGeneticaDoutor em Ciências Biológica

Isolamento e analise genetica de mutantes com alterações na produção de amiloglicosidase em aspergillus niger

Orientador: Renato Bonatelli JuniorDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de BiologiaResumo: Este trabalho teve por objetivo o isolamento e análise genética de mutantes com produção alterada de amiloglicosidase (AG) na linhagem HAP de Aspergillus niger. Foram estudados mutantes auxotróficos e morfológicos quanto à produção da enzima, observando-se que a maioria não apresentava alteração na produção de AG com relação à linhagem original HAP, com exceção das linhagens pdxlolvl e purl que apresentaram produção significativamente menor. Teste para avaliação da atividade enzimática na presença de inibidor específico para AG e dextrina limite como substrato mostrou que as medidas realizadas durante o trabalho referem-se principalmente à AG. A utilização da luz ultravioleta como mutagênico para obtenção de mutantes com produção diminuída de AG foi satisfatória, tendo sido obtida uma freqüência total de mutantes de 3;0%. Pela metodolog1a de pré-seleção empregada não foi conseguido nenhum mutante de produção aumentada. Testes de interação alélica mostraram que todas as mutações induzidas eram recessivas. No teste de complementação pelo menos dois genes que afetam a produção de AG parecem ter sido revelados, o lap61 e lap73 e/ou lap38. Análise mitótica dos segregantes mostrou ligação entre os genes nic_ fwn e olv e também evidenciou ligação entre o gene pab e o lap61Abstract: The claims of this work were iso1ation and genetical analysis of altered amylog1ucosldase production mutants using the HAP strain or Aspergillus niger. Enzyme production was studied in auxotrophs and morphologica1 mutants and most or them do not show AG production alterations, except pdxlolvl and purl strains showed significant decreased production comparing with the original strain HAP. Teste to evaluate enzimatic activity in presence of AG especific Inibitor and using limit dextrin as substrate showed that the activlty measured during this work was mainly the AG activity. The use of ultraviolet light as mutagenic to obtain decreased AG production mutants was satisfactory, and the total frequency or mutants was 3,0%. Pre-selection methodology was not efficient to obtain increasead AG production mutants. Alelic interaction tests showed that a11 the induced mutations were recessives. Complementation test showed at least two genes envolved in AG production, lap61 and lap73 and/or lap38. Mitotic analysis demonstrated linkage between the genes nic, f'wn and olv_ and between pab and lap61MestradoGeneticaMestre em Ciências Biológica