Gill cell toxicity of northern boreal scyphomedusae Cyanea capillata and Aurelia aurita measured by an in vitro cell assay

Abstract

Scyphozoan medusae are very successful foragers which occasionally occur in high abundances in boreal waters and may impact many different groups in the marine ecosystem by means of a variety of toxins. A rainbow trout gill cell line, RTgill-W1, was tested for its suitability as quantitative indicator of the cytotoxicity of Cyanea capillata and Aurelia aurita; the major scyphozoan species in the North and Baltic seas. Cultures of rainbow trout gill cells were exposed to whole venoms extracted from fishing tentacles and oral arms at increasing protein concentrations. The venom caused detachment, clumping and lysis of cells, as well as a drop in vitality, in a dose-dependent manner. Morphological changes in the cells were evident within 1 h after venom addition. The damage to gill cells was quantified by measuring the metabolic activity of the cells by means of the fluorescence of resorufin derived from the nonfluorescent substrate, resazurin. In general, a decrease in the metabolic activity of the cells was detected at a venom (protein) concentration above 2.0 lg ml -1 (corresponding to 0.2 lg 10 4 cells -1 ), and a total loss of activity was observed above 40.0 lg ml -1 (corresponding to 4.0 lg 10 4 cells -1 ). C. capillata venoms had increased cytotoxic activity as compared to A. aurita venoms at the same concentration. Cnidocyst extracts from oral arms of A. aurita induced an 85% loss of gill cell viability at concentrations of 0.2 lg 10 4 cells -1 , whereas crude venoms from fishing tentacles reduced cell viability by 18% at the same concentration. Gel electrophoresis of the venoms indicated that these consist of a large number of proteins in a fairly wide size range, from 6 to 200 kDa, including some that are the same size as those found in cubomedusae. It also appears that larger (i.e., older) medusae have more complex venoms and, in some cases, more potent venoms than smaller animals.

A biomechanical and optimality-based derivation of prey-size dependencies in planktonic prey selection and ingestion rates

“…Planktonic consumers possess a variety of ways of adjusting their feeding behavior. They may swim or wait , Boenigk & Arndt 2002, modify the speed of the feeding current (Frost 1972, Visser et al 2009, Pahlow & Prowe 2010, produce prey-specific toxins (Helmholz et al 2010), switch between different feeding types , or change particle clearance rate as a function of local density of food items (Jeschke & Tollrian 2005, Kratina et al 2009). …”

Gill disorders in marine-farmed salmon: investigating the role of hydrozoan jellyfish

“…When nematocysts discharge, they often release hae molytic, cytotoxic and/or neurotoxic chemicals to kill or paralyse their prey (Lotan et al 1996). Recently, Helmholz et al (2010) have demonstrated that the toxicity of whole venoms from Cyanea capillata and Aurelia aurita on gill cell cultures of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus my kiss caused a significant reduction in gill cell viability.…”

Bioactive toxins from stinging jellyfish

“…An SDS-PAGE profile can be used to assess differences in the composition of the venom, along with measurement of biological activity. In jellyfish, the collection location, the time of collection, the maturity of the specimen collected, and the tissue origin (bell or tentacle) can also lead to differences in venom composition (Radwan et al, 2001;Winter et al, 2010;Helmholz et al, 2010;Underwood and Seymour, 2007;Avila Soria, 2009). Different types of nematocysts can also have different activities or toxic potentials, in accordance with the multiple physiological roles of those organelles.…”