title: Freshwater planarians as novel organisms for genotoxicity testing: Analysis of chromosome aberrations.
abstract: Two freshwater species of planarians, Girardia schubarti Marcus and G. tigrina Girard, were used for measuring chromosome aberration (CA) induction under laboratory conditions. Three genotoxicants were tested: methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), a direct-acting genotoxicant; cyclophosphamide, a metabolism-dependent genotoxicant; and gamma-radiation, a clastogenic agent. All three agents produced positive responses in both species. The strongest dose-responses were detected with MMS, and, in general, G. tigrina was somewhat more sensitive to the genotoxicity of the agents than G. schubarti. This difference in sensitivity may be due to: (a) the smaller body mass of G. tigrina; (b) differences in DNA repair, which may be reflected in the marginally higher background CA frequency of G. tigrina; and/or (c) the greater number of chromosomes in G. tigrina (2N = 16) as compared with G. schubarti (2N = 8). The responses induced by gamma-radiation in the planarians were similar to or higher than those induced in cultured human lymphocytes. The CA-planarian assay has advantages for monitoring environmental genotoxicity in natural water resources or urban and industrial wastewater since planarians are characterized by (a) a relatively low number of easily analyzable chromosomes; (b) high regenerating capacity, allowing exposure of replicating cells from different parts of the same organism to different doses; (c) easy maintenance under laboratory conditions; and (d) worldwide distribution, making them available for genotoxicity tests using either in situ or controlled laboratory exposure conditions.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Genética, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. adrianalau@gmail.com
authors.forename: Adriana Helena
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Tanise
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Knakievicz
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Prá
authors.forename: Bernardo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Erdtmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000633:toxicity; D005618:Fresh Water; D005720:Gamma Rays; D006801:Humans; D008677:Metaphase / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D008741:Methyl Methanesulfonate / Q000633:toxicity; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D009153:Mutagens / Q000633:toxicity*; D010932:Planarians / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D009153:Mutagens; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D008741:Methyl Methanesulfonate