Toxicity assessment of p-choroaniline on Platymonas subcordiformis and its biodegradation

Toxicity of perfluooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) to Scenedesmus obliquus: Photosynthetic characteristics, oxidative damage and transcriptome analysis

With the wide application as an alternative for perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) has been frequently detected in the aquatic environment. However, the aquatic toxicity of PFBS is still poorly understood. The present work studied the aquatic toxicity of PFBS using freshwater algae Scenedesmus obliquus (S. obliquus) as indicator, and the toxicity of PFOS was also examined for comparison. The results showed that PFBS exhibited much lower toxicity to S. obliquus than PFOS. The EC₅₀ value was higher than 1800 mg L^-1 after 7 days of exposure to PFBS. By contrast, a much lower EC₅₀ value of 136.69 mg L^-1 was obtained for PFOS. Photosynthetic efficiency analyzed by chlorophyll fluorescence also verified that PFOS induced a higher toxic effect on the algae than PFBS. The malondialdehyde, catalase and superoxide dismutase results indicate that PFOS exposure led to the accumulation of ROS, which caused oxidative damage to the algae, thereby resulting in the inhibition in the growth and photosynthesis of the algae. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis indicates that the significant down-regulation of key genes related to photosynthesis induced by PFOS was the fundamental mechanism for the inhibition in photosynthetic efficiency and biomass growth of S. obliquus.

Impact of P-Chloroaniline on Oxidative Stress and Biomacromolecules Damage in the Clam Ruditapes philippinarums: A Simulate Toxicity Test of Spill Incident

As a hazardous chemical, p-chloroaniline (PCA) shows intensive adsorption and accumulation after entering the aquatic ecosystem, which can be enriched in organisms and cause damage. With the objective of achieving an integrated and mechanistic view of the toxic effects of PCA in the marine sentinel organism Ruditapes philippinarum, Manila clams were exposed to different concentration of PCA (0.5, 2 and 5 mg/L) for 15 days. Focusing on the gills, first targeting the toxic and digestive gland, the metabolic detoxification organ, we detected dose- and time-related changes inantioxidase activities and biomacromolecular damages in treated clams. Glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity and glutathione (GSH) contents were significantly induced, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity increased at the beginning of exposure and then decreased. The malondialdehyde (MDA) and protein methylation (PC) contents which represent lipid peroxidation and carbonylation of proteins, increased first with exposure time and then decreased in the digestive gland. DNA strand break levels were consistently higher than those in the control group. The digestive gland showed more sensitivity to the stress of PCA than the gills. GST and MDA in the gill and GST, GSH, SOD, DNA strand break level in the digestive gland showed significant correlation with PCA exposure, which indicated that these parameters can be used as sensitive biomarkers to indicate toxic effects from chloraniline leakage.

Immunotoxicity of Perfluorooctanoic Acid to the Marine Bivalve Species Ruditapes philippinarum

Polyfluorinated alkylated substances are recognized as an important class of pollutants in marine environments. Bivalves are good model organisms for evaluating the toxicity of pollutants and monitoring marine environments. In the present study, immunotoxicity of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was investigated by measuring biomarkers of the immune profile of Ruditapes philippinarum. In bivalves, hemocytes are an important component of the immune system. Thus, hemocyte proliferation, phagocytosis, cell viability, and immune enzyme activities, which have been applied as marine pollution bioindicators, were identified and observed for changes after exposure to PFOA in R. philippinarum. Based on the integrated biomarker responses method, we selected five biomarkers to evaluate PFOA risk at the multibiomarker level. In addition, the histopathological alterations of hemocytes in bivalves were used as indexes of the response to environmental stress. The subcellular structure of the hemocytes in R. philippinarum changed significantly with PFOA exposure, including hemocyte and nucleus morphological changes, organelle dissolution, cytomembrane and karyotheca swelling, and cytoplasm vacuolization. The present study verifies PFOA immunotoxicity to R. philippinarum at different levels and the integrated assessment of stress levels caused by PFOA in marine environment. Our results will provide new insights into evaluating adverse effects of PFOA and monitoring marine ecosystem. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:426-436. © 2021 SETAC.

Preparation and evaluation of polyphenol derivatives as potent antifouling agents: addition of a side chain affects the biological activity of polyphenols

In this study, eight polyphenol derivatives were prepared to serve as green antifoulants. Polyphenol derivatives, which can hinder the growth of bacteria and algae and decrease the adhesion of some marine organisms, showed good AF activity; in particular, the activities of these derivatives were much higher than those of the corresponding polyphenols. The antibacterial rates of the products (20 μg ml^-1) exceeded 88%. Moreover, the anti-algal rates of compounds a3, b1, b2, b3 and b4 (15 μg ml^-1) were over 57% at 240 h, but these compounds showed low toxicity, and the 120 h EC₅₀ values were > 6.60 μg ml^-1. In addition, there were fewer marine microorganisms on the test panel than on the control. The above results show that some polyphenol derivatives possess relatively high antibacterial, anti-algal, and AF activity; more notably, the addition of chlorine atoms and amide groups can further increase the activity of these derivatives.

Toxicities of three metal oxide nanoparticles to a marine microalga: Impacts on the motility and potential affecting mechanisms

With the fast growth of the production and application of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs), nanoparticles (NPs) that escape into the environment have drawn increasing attention due to their ecotoxicological impacts. Motile microalgae are a type of primary producer in most ecosystems; however, the impacts of NPs on the motility of microalgae have not been studied yet. So the toxic impacts of three common metal oxide NPs (nTiO₂, nZnO, and nFe₂O₃) on swimming speed and locomotion mode of a marine microalgae, Platymonas subcordiformis, were investigated in this study. Our results demonstrated that both the velocity and linearity (LIN) of swimming were significantly decreased after the exposure of P. subcordiformis to the tested NPs. In addition, the obtained data indicate that NPs may suppress the motility of P. subcordiformis by constraining the energy available for swimming, as indicated by the significantly lower amounts of intracellular ATP and photosynthetic pigments and the lower activities of enzymes catalyzing glycolysis. Incubation of P. subcordiformis with the tested NPs generally resulted in the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS), aggravation of lipid peroxidation, and induction of antioxidant enzyme activities, suggesting that imposing oxidative stress, which may impair the structural basis for swimming (i.e. the membrane of flagella), could be another reason for the observed motility suppression. Moreover, NP exposure led to significant reductions in the cell viability of P. subcordiformis, which may be due to the disruption of the energy supply (i.e., photosynthesis) and ROS-induced cellular damage. Our results indicate that waterborne NPs may pose a great threat to motile microalgae and subsequently to the health and stability of the marine ecosystem.

Toxicity evaluation of butyl acrylate on the photosynthetic pigments, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, and oxygen evolution activity of Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Platymonas subcordiformis

Butyl acrylate is a hazardous and noxious substance (HNS) listed in the top 50 chemicals that is most likely to be involved in HNS spilling incident. At present, information about toxicity effect of butyl acrylate on marine organisms was insufficient, especially on marine microalgae. Phaeodactylum tricornutum (P. tricornutum) and Platymonas subcordiformis (P. subcordiformis) were used as test organism to evaluate the toxic effect of butyl acrylate on their photosynthetic system. Results showed that chlorophyll a (Chl-a) content, the net photosynthetic oxygen evolution rate (NOR), and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters including maximal photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm), electron transfer rate (ETR), photochemical quenching (qP), and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) were all stimulated in the toxic dose of 5,10, and 25 mg/L while those were significantly inhibited in the highest concentration of 25 mg/L groups after 96 h. Meanwhile, it was also found that Fv/Fm would be a suitable indicator for evaluating the toxicity of butyl acrylate on the photosynthetic system of two marine microalgae according to the analysis of Pearson correlation coefficient and integrated biomarker response (IBR). Once butyl acrylate enters the marine ecosystem, the toxicity data obtained in this study could be used as a reference for evaluating the effect of butyl acrylate on the photosynthetic capacity of marine microalgae.

Acute toxic effect of typical chemicals and ecological risk assessment based on two marine microalgae, Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Platymonas subcordiformis

With the increasing demand for typical hazardous and noxious substances (HNS) in chemical industry, there is an increased leakage risk of these HNS during transportation by vessel and storage nearby seashore. In this study, the acute toxicity of nonylphenol, butyl acrylate and 1, 2-dichloroethane to Phaeodactylum tricornutum (P. tricornutum) and Platymonas subcordiformis (P. subcordiformis), was investigated to assess their ecological risk. The results showed that the three kinds of HNS showed significant time- and dose-dependent patterns on the growth inhibition of two marine microalgae. The 96 h-EC₅₀ of nonylphenol, butyl acrylate and 1, 2-dichloroethane on P. tricornutum was 1.088, 45.908 and 396 mg L^-1, respectively, and the 96 h-EC₅₀ of that on P. subcordiformis was 0.851, 52.621 and 389 mg L^-1, respectively. It was a common method to evaluate the harm of pollutants to organisms by calculating HC₅ value (the minimum pollutant concentration value harmful to 95 % of the studied species, which was no-effect concentration) with Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD). On the basis of EC₅₀, the ecological risk assessment was further carried out, and HC₅ value of nonylphenol and 1, 2-dichloroethane to aquatic organism was 0.079 and 44 mg L^-1, respectively.

Effects of fluctuating temperature in open raceway ponds on the biomass accumulation and harvest efficiency of Spirulina in large-scale cultivation

It is of great significance to select strains with wide adaptability to temperature range for large-scale commercial cultivation of Spirulina. The aim of this study was to comprehend how the strain H-208 grew and whether this strain had any advantages in temperature adaptation compared with local production strain during the large-scale cultivation in Inner Mongolia. The results showed that the strain H-208 could adapt to the new environmental condition quickly, and the daily average biomass dry weight of strain H-208 was 49% and 52% more than that of production strain M-1 in first cycle (20.24 g/m2/day) and second cycle (16.90 g/m2/day) of acclimation experiment, respectively. The growth rate of strain H-208 was 0.055 and 0.066 g/L/day from July 22 to July 25 and from July 26 to July 29, respectively, while the growth rate of strain M-1 was only 0.036 and 0.032 g/L/day, respectively, during the same cultured days in 605-m2 raceway ponds before high temperature. The harvesting efficiency of H-208 and M-1 was 95.1% and 72.1% before high temperature, and that was 95.3% and 52.5% after being stressed by high temperature, respectively. Meanwhile, it was also observed that the filaments of the two strains contracted and their pitches were smaller than that before high temperature stress, especially the strain M-1. In 20-m2 raceway ponds of recovery experiment after high temperature, the percentage of daily average biomass dry weight of strain H-208 was 68% more than that of strain M-1, which demonstrated that strain H-208 could recover and grow rapidly, and its self-regulation ability was superior to that of strain M-1.