Seasonal variations in antioxidant defences in blue mussels Mytilus edulis collected from a polluted area: major contributions in gills of an inducible isoform of Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase and of glutathione S-transferase.

In the present work, we investigated in the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) the seasonal variations in the activity of several enzymes, which participate in the cellular defence system that is involved in the adaptive response of organisms to pollution. The activity levels of glutathione S-transferase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and three isoforms of Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase in gills and digestive glands of this bivalve species were used as biomarkers. Adult wild mussels were collected in Le Havre harbour (north-west coast of France) from four sites with different environmental conditions. Measurements of enzymatic activities were performed on tissue homogenates except for Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase for which the activity of each isoform was detected on gel after isoelectric focusing. Seasonal variations in antioxidant enzyme activities were observed, characterized by low activity levels during winter, a period where oxidative stress is known to be high in bivalves. A clear-cut discrepancy between tissues was noted concerning inter-individual variability of data, which was low in gills but high in digestive gland, leading to the conclusion that gills could preferentially be used in biomonitoring studies dealing with oxidative stress in the blue mussel. As compared to animals from the reference site, mussels from the most polluted sites exhibited changes in the Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase pattern characterized by an increase in the activity of the more acidic isoform without significant variation of the total activity of the enzyme. The most striking data were recorded in mussels collected at the outlet of a thermoelectric power plant. When compared to animals from the reference site, not only their gills showed a highly significant induction of the most acidic isoform of the Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (+340%, P < 0.001) but also high levels of glutathione S-transferase activity (+269%, P < 0.001). This study points out the usefulness of Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase expression pattern as a biomarker of exposure to environmental stress rather than measurement of total activity of the enzyme, in field studies using Mytilus edulis. It also indicates the informative potential for glutathione S-transferase measurements in gills and underlines the advantages of selecting a battery of biomarkers for evaluating the impact of contamination on marine organisms.

Characterization of an inducible isoform of the Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase in the blue mussel Mytilus edulis.

Aerobic organisms are protected against oxidative stress by antioxidant systems which mobilise enzymes such as the Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD) which transfers O2(.-) to H2O2. In this paper, we report the characterization of three isoforms of Cu/Zn-SOD in the blue mussel Mytilus edulis and we show that one of these isoforms is strongly inducible. Cytosolic extracts of digestive gland and gills from adult blue mussels were analysed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis or isoelectric focusing followed by in situ staining for SOD activity. Two main bands of Cu/Zn-SOD were obtained at pI 4.7 and 4.6 corresponding to native apparent molecular weight values of 205 and 155 kDa. Blue mussels from chemically contaminated area in Le Havre harbour exhibited a third Cu/Zn-SOD isoform characterized by a more acidic isoelectric point (pI 4.55) and a native apparent molecular weight of 130 kDa. When maintained in clean marine water, mussels from this area showed a transitory decrease in total SOD activity accompanied by the disappearance of the SOD-3 band. Conversely, the exposure (4 and 8 h, and 3 and 7 days) of control blue mussels to copper (25 microg l(-1)) markedly increased SOD-3 band while the total SOD activity did not systematically change. Taken together our results suggest that the variations of SOD expression pattern in Mytihus edulis could be used as a tool for the marine environment monitoring.