Using diatom chain length as a bioindicator of heavy-metals contamination in marine environments.

Autor: Mushtaq R; Physics Department 'E. Pancini', University Federico II, via Cintia, 80126 Napoli, Italy., Gambardella C; Institute for the Study of Anthropic Impact and Sustainability in the Marine Environment, National Research Council, via De Marini 6, 16149 Genova, Italy., Miroglio R; Institute for the Study of Anthropic Impact and Sustainability in the Marine Environment, National Research Council, via De Marini 6, 16149 Genova, Italy., Novelli F; Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, 44801 Bochum, DE, Germany., Paturzo M; CNR-ISASI, Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems 'E. Caianiello', via Campi Flegrei 34, 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy., Rubano A; Physics Department 'E. Pancini', University Federico II, via Cintia, 80126 Napoli, Italy; CNR-ISASI, Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems 'E. Caianiello', via Campi Flegrei 34, 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy., Sardo A; Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology Department, Zoological Station 'A. Dohrn' (SZN), via Acton 55, 80133 Napoli, Italy., Balzano S; Ecosustainable Marine Biotechnology Department, Zoological Station 'A. Dohrn' (SZN), via Acton 55, 80133 Napoli, Italy., Paparo D; Physics Department 'E. Pancini', University Federico II, via Cintia, 80126 Napoli, Italy; CNR-ISASI, Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems 'E. Caianiello', via Campi Flegrei 34, 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy. Electronic address: domenico.paparo@cnr.it.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of hazardous materials [J Hazard Mater] 2024 Dec 01; Vol. 484, pp. 136732. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Dec 01.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.136732
Abstrakt: The increasing release of toxic heavy metals into marine environments poses significant risks due to their persistence and bioaccumulation. Diatoms are ideal bioindicators because of their sensitivity to environmental changes. Despite traditional methods for detecting these persistent pollutants effectively identify composition and concentration, they are time-consuming, they often require the use of harmful reagents, and do not allow a fast assessment of detrimental impacts on marine organisms. To fill this gap, we have successfully investigated the toxicity of different heavy metals in the marine diatom Skeletonema pseudocostatum thanks to a newly developed high-power terahertz (THz) spectrometer. By combining THz spectroscopy, microscopy and ecotoxicological assays, we found that the formation of long diatom chains is significantly inhibited by the presence of lead, copper, and chromium, which disrupt their metabolism. Although the THz absorption and refractive index spectra were not affected by diatom concentration in undoped samples, THz frequencies were highly sensitive to changes in diatom chain length due to heavy metals exposure. These findings suggest that this approach allows to investigate the biochemical processes involved in chain formation in S. pseudocostatum and related algae. THz spectroscopy could therefore provide deeper insights into the microscopic metabolic activity of diatoms, addressing key biochemical questions surrounding these organisms. Furthermore, we propose this novel approach for environmental pollution monitoring, since it could provide a rapid, harmless and sensitive detection method to assess heavy metal toxicity in marine diatoms, key organisms at the basis of the trophic chain.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Ruqyyah Mushtaq reports financial support was provided by Italian Ministry of University and Research. Fabio Novelli reports financial support was provided by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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