Prodiamesa olivacea Meigen and Prodiamesa bureshi Michailova (Diptera, Chironomidae, Prodiamesinae) as a candidate for assessing the genotoxicity of trace metals in fluvial sediments

Abstract

The genome response, realized by structure chromosome rearrangements in the polytene chromosomes of two sibling species Prodiamesa bureshi Michailova and Prodiamesa olivacea Mg., was studied. The larvae of the species were collected in May and September, 2016, from Biała Przemsza River, a metal-mine-affected site in southern Poland, where Zn, Cd, and Pb concentrations in the sediment exceeded many times the reference data and those from unpolluted sites. The water had high contents of different major ions and nutrients. A high spectrum of somatic chromosome aberrations was detected in the salivary gland chromosomes of both species, which defined a high somatic index (from 1.2 to 7), indicating the sensitivity of both genomes to anthropogenic stress. The cells with somatic rearrangements of both species were significantly higher (P. bureshi: G = 25.636, P < 0.001 May, G = 32.722, P < 0.001 September; P. olivacea: G = 47.863, P < 0.001 May, G = 38.742, P < 0.001 September) than the control. Both species from polluted and unpolluted sites showed a high frequency of ectopic conjugations, as between arms B, CD (centromere regions), and E (NOR). Some deformities of mentum and mandibles of P. bureshi (20%) and P. olivacea (35%) were detected. We postulate that the appearances of somatic chromosome aberrations are more sensitive indicators of genotoxicity in the studied species than changes in external morphology. The sensitivity of the P. olivacea and P. bureshi genomes shows that these species are good candidates for detecting the presence of genotoxic compounds in aquatic basins and evaluating their genotoxic effects.

Neo- and Paleo-Limnological Studies on Diatom and Cladoceran Communities of Subsidence Ponds Affected by Mine Waters (S. Poland)

“…In contrary to the water, sediments were extremely contaminated by Cd, Pb, and Zn (according to values of I geo , [35]) reaching levels found in water bodies affected by active and closed Zn and Pb mines [14,40,41,43]. This confirms that sediments of waters in mining areas act as long-term sinks for heavy metals [44,45].…”

“…However, it should be emphasized that even during small floods all ponds (CH1-CH3) are flooded with river water. Similarly to macroions, the total Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu concentrations in the studied waters were predominantly close to values from industrialized areas [39]; nevertheless, they were much lower than in aquatic systems polluted by active Zn and Pb mining [40,41]. The concentrations of dissolved Cd did not exceed permissible values for priority substances, while dissolved Cu and Zn were not higher than permissible country values for substances harmful to the aquatic environment [42].…”

Content of nutrients, trace elements, and ecotoxicity of sediment cores from Rożnów reservoir (Southern Poland)

“…Most studies on the environmental quality of bottom sediments were focused on that high content of trace metals can be responsible for sediment ecotoxicity and have impact on benthic organisms (Baran and Tarnawski 2015; Ilkova et al 2018). However, at low content of pollution, other factors such as organic matter, nutrients, and ammonia concentration may be responsible for low to moderate toxicity (Czerniawska-Kusza et al 2006; Łukawska-Matuszewska et al 2009; Janke et al 2011; Fafandel et al 2015).…”

Physicochemical characteristics of the Dombrovska pit lake (Ukraine) formed in an opencast potassium salt mine and the genome response of Chironomus salinarius Kieffer (Chironomidae, Diptera) to these conditions

“…Another important response of the C. salinarius genome was the somatic aberrations in the polytene chromosomes of the species, which is usually induced by the heavy metals deposited in the sediments, found in other species (Ilkova et al 2018;Michailova et al 2018). It is important to underline that somatic aberrations were not found in other populations of the species (Michailova 1973;Zorina et al 2014;Kiknadze et al 2016).…”