Use of the aquatic plant Elodea canadensis to assess toxicity and genotoxicity of Yenisei River sediments

Abstract

The toxicity, cytotoxicity, and genotoxicity of bulk sediments from the Yenisei River (Siberia, Russia) were estimated in laboratory bioassays based on several endpoints in the aquatic plant Elodea canadensis. The bottom sediment samples were collected in the Yenisei River upstream and downstream of the sources of chemical and radioactive contamination. The testing revealed different sensitivities of Elodea endpoints to the quality of the bottom sediment: weight of shoots < length of shoots < mitotic index < length of roots < percentage of abnormal cells. The response of the genotoxicity endpoint (percentage of cells with chromosome abnormalities in roots of Elodea) was the highest in sediments with chemical pollution, whereas the highest inhibition of toxicity endpoints (shoot and root length) occurred in sediments with the highest level of radioactive pollution. The extreme response of Elodea endpoints to the quality of certain sediment samples may be regarded as related to the possible presence of unknown toxicants. The results show that E. canadensis can be used as an indicator species in laboratory contact testing of bottom sediment. The responses of shoot and root length growth endpoints of Elodea can be recommended as basic sensitivity indicators of bottom sediment toxicity. Analysis of cells carrying abnormal chromosomes in the apical root meristem of Elodea can be performed optionally in the same test to assess the genotoxicity of sediments.

Use of Chemical Indicators and Bioassays in Bottom Sediment Ecological Risk Assessment

“…The growth of a plant can be limited both by toxicants and by nutrient deficiencies in the bottom sediment. Zotina et al ( 2015 ) found the limitations of the Elodea shoot and root growth under a nutrient deficiency. However, Lahr et al ( 2003 ) indicated that crustaceans T. platyurus and D. magna were the most sensitive organisms in a battery of bioassays with pore water.…”

“…From the viewpoint of risk to the aquatic environment, it is important to determine to what extent pollution in sediments negatively impacts this environment, and if they may be considered as a stressor for organisms. Therefore, a challenge for the scientists dealing with aquatic risk assessment is to reveal the relations between the pollutants of sediments and the biological community response (Zotina et al 2015 ; Kuzmanović et al 2016 ). However, the biological status is not always in coherence with the chemical one (Roig et al 2013 ).…”

Improvement of wastewater quality of Dhaleswari river, Bangladesh using submerged macrophyte Egeria densa

“…Root growth rate also increases in polluted water compared to other two treatments. Aquatic plants always develop an extensive system of roots which helps them to accumulate contaminants by roots and shoots [17], [26], [28]. The ratio of SGR and RGR also expressed an indication of stress on plants.…”

Cytogenetic activity of radionuclide contamination of water reservoirs of the alienation zone of Chornobyl NPP

“…Радіаційно-індуковані в G 2 -періоді розриви хроматид утворюються в момент конденсації хроматину та формування хроматинового волокна (Parshad & Sanford, 2001;Magin et al, 2015;Guogyte et al, 2017). Мости з'являються як у результаті розриву та об'єднання розірваних кінців хромосом, так і внаслідок аглютинації (злипання хромосом) (Muratova et al, 2014;Albertson, 2015;Zotina et al, 2015;Pampalona et al, 2016). У працях інших дослідників також зазначається причетність районів із радіоактивним забрудненням до утворення подвійних і множинних дицентриків (Geras'kin et al, 2011;Firbas & Amon, 2014).…”