title: Application of the micronucleus and comet assays to mussel Dreissena polymorpha haemocytes for genotoxicity monitoring of freshwater environments.
abstract: Assessment of DNA damage is of primary concern when determining the pollution-related stress in living organisms. To monitor genotoxicity of the freshwater environments we used micronucleus (MN) and comet assay on Dreissena polymorpha haemocytes. Caged mussels, collected from the river Drava, were transplanted to four monitoring sites of different pollution intensity in the river Sava. Exposition lasted for a month. The baseline level of MN frequencies in the haemocytes of mussels from reference site (river Drava) was 0.5 per thousand. No increase in MN frequency was found in mussels from the medium-polluted site (Zagreb) in the river Sava while other, more polluted sites showed higher MN frequencies ranging from 2.7 per thousand (Lukavec) and 3.1 per thousand (Oborovo) to 5.2 per thousand (Sisak). Results from comet assay showed concordance with MN assay in indicating intensity of DNA damage. The use of haemocytes from caged, non-indigenous mussels in MN and comet assay proved to be a sensitive tool for the freshwater genotoxicity monitoring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Rooseveltov trg 6, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. gklobuca@zg.biol.pmf.hr
authors.forename: Göran I V
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Klobucar
authors.forename: Mirjana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pavlica
authors.forename: Radovan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Erben
authors.forename: Drazena
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Papes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D020552:Comet Assay; D004249:DNA Damage; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005618:Fresh Water; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000187:drug effects*; D015162:Micronucleus Tests; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D014873:Water Pollutants