A real-time biomonitoring system to detect arsenic toxicity by valve movement in freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea.

Arsenic (As) is the element of greatest ecotoxicological concern in aquatic environments. Effective monitoring and diagnosis of As pollution via a biological early warning system is a great challenge for As-affected regions. The purpose of this study was to synthesize water chemistry-based bioavailability and valve daily rhythm in Corbicula fluminea to design a biomonitoring system for detecting waterborne As. We integrated valve daily rhythm dynamic patterns and water chemistry-based Hill dose-response model to build into a programmatic mechanism of inductance-based valvometry technique for providing a rapid and cost-effective dynamic detection system. A LabVIEW graphic control program in a personal computer was employed to demonstrate completely the functional presentation of the present dynamic system. We verified the simulated dissolved As concentrations based on the valve daily rhythm behavior with published experimental data. Generally, the performance of this proposed biomonitoring system demonstrates fairly good applicability to detect waterborne As concentrations when the field As concentrations are less than 1 mg L(-1). We also revealed that the detection times were dependent on As exposure concentrations. This biomonitoring system could particularly provide real-time transmitted information on the waterborne As activity under various aquatic environments. This parsimonious C. fluminea valve rhythm behavior-based real-time biomonitoring system presents a valuable effort to promote the automated biomonitoring and offers early warnings on potential ecotoxicological risks in regions with elevated As exposure concentrations.

Toxicokinetics/toxicodynamics with damage feedback improves risk assessment for tilapia and freshwater clam exposed to arsenic.

It has been proposed that irreversible responses of organisms exposed to contaminants are due to a systems-level feedback. Here we tested this hypothesis by reanalyzing the published data on toxicokinetics and survival probability based on a systems-level threshold damage model (TDM) incorporating with a positive damage feedback to explore the steady-state response and dynamic behavior of damage for tilapia and freshwater clam exposed to waterborne arsenic (As). We found that ultrasensitivity appeared in As-tilapia and freshwater clam systems with Hill coefficient n ≥ 4, indicating that the positive damage feedback mechanism has been triggered. We confirmed that damage can trigger a positive feedback loop that together with As stressor increases irreversibility. This study also showed that TDM with positive feedback gave a much better predictability than that of TDM at As concentrations ranging from 100 to 500 mg l(-1) for freshwater clam, whereas for tilapia, two models had nearly same performance on predictability. We suggested that mortality-time profile derived Hill coefficient could be used as a new risk indicator to assess the survival probability for species exposed to waterborne metals. We anticipated that the proposed toxicokinetics/toxicodynamics with a positive damage feedback may facilitate our understanding and manipulation of complex mechanisms of metal susceptibility among species and improve current risk assessment strategies.

Predicting bioavailability and bioaccumulation of arsenic by freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea using valve daily activity.

There are many bioindicators. However, it remains largely unknown which metal-bioindicator systems will give the reasonable detection ranges of bioavailable metals in the aquatic ecosystem. Various experimental data make the demonstration of biomonitoring processes challenging. Ingested inorganic arsenic is strongly associated with a wide spectrum of adverse health outcomes. Freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea, one of the most commonly used freshwater biomomitoring organisms, presents daily activity in valve movement and demonstrates biotic uptake potential to accumulate arsenic. Here, a systematical way was provided to dynamically link valve daily activity in C. fluminea and arsenic bioavailability and toxicokinetics to predict affinity at arsenic-binding site in gills and arsenic body burden. Using computational ecotoxicology methods, a valve daily rhythm model can be tuned mathematically to the responsive ranges of valve daily activity system in response to varied bioavailable arsenic concentration. The patterned response then can be used to predict the site-specific bioavailable arsenic concentration at the specific measuring time window. This approach can yield predictive data of results from toxicity studies of specific bioindicators that can assist in prediction of risk for aquatic animals and humans.

Valve movement response of the freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea following exposure to waterborne arsenic.

We developed an inductance-based valvometry technique as a detection system to measure the valve daily activity in freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea in response to waterborne arsenic. Our findings reveal that C. fluminea experiences a valve opening in the absence of arsenic predominantly in the morning hours (03:00-08:00) with a mean daily opening/closing period of 21.32 (95% CI: 20.58-22.05) h. Amplification of daily activity occurred in the presence of arsenic. Behavioral toxicity assays revealed arsenic detection thresholds of 0.60 (95% CI: 0.53-0.66) mg l(-1) and 0.35 (95% CI: 0.30-0.40) mg l(-1) for response times of 60 and 300 min, respectively. The proposed valve daily activity model was linked with response time-specific Hill dose-response functions to predict valve opening/closing behavior in response to arsenic. The predictive capabilities were verified satisfactory with the measurements. Our results implicate a biomonitoring system by valve daily activity in C. fluminea to identify safe water uses in areas with elevated arsenic.

Acute toxicity and bioaccumulation of arsenic in freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea.

Arsenic is a potent human carcinogen of skin, lung, and urinary bladder. Freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea is a commercially important native species in Taiwan. C. fluminea is also a suitable biomonitoring test organism. Little is known, however, about the actual effects of arsenic on C. fluminea. The objectives of this study were to provide information on the acute toxicity and bioaccumulation kinetics of arsenic in C. fluminea. We carried out a 14-day exposure experiment to obtain bioaccumulation parameters. Uptake was very rapid when C. fluminea was first exposed and then slightly decayed during the uptake phase of the experiment and an uptake rate constant of 1.718 +/- 6.70 (mean +/- SE) mL g(-1) d(-1) was estimated. The elimination of arsenic from C. fluminea obeyed first-order depuration kinetics (r(2) = 0.85, p < 0.05) with a calculated half-life of 6.80 days. The derived bioaccumulation factor of 16.84 suggests that arsenic has a high potential for bioaccumulation in C. fluminea. This had important implications for dietary exposure of arsenic to humans who eat contaminated clams, because the soft tissue usually constitutes the majority of tissue consumed. The 96-h LC50 value was estimated to be 20.74 (95% CI: 11.74-30.79) mg L(-1) obtained from a 7-day acute toxicity bioassay. We also kinetically linked an acute toxicity model and a Hill sigmoid model to reconstruct an internal effect concentration based dose-response profile to assess the effect of soft tissue arsenic burden on the C. fluminea mortality. This result could be used to support the establishment of an ecological risk assessment to prevent possible ecosystem and human health consequences.

Sodium Gill Potential as a Tool to Monitor Valve Closure Behavior in Freshwater Clam Corbicula fluminea in Response to Copper.

Valve closure behavior in freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea is a biologically sensitive endpoint. The purpose of this paper was to derive an electrophysiological response model of C. fluminea to assess copper (Cu)-sodium (Na) interactions in gill membrane, whereby valve closure behavior and Cu toxicity could be monitored. The proposed model was based on the integration of Cu bioavailability, Na and Cu internalizations, and electrochemically-based gill potentials. Based on Na active transport under non-equilibrium conditions, predicted gill potential of -8.2 mV agreed reasonably well with published the measured transepithelial potential of -7 mV in C. fluminea. Our proposed framework captured the general features observed in model applications including: (i) 50% inhibitory Cu2+ activities for Na membrane potential (ENa) and uptake rate (JNa) were estimated to be 0.072 and 0.043 mM, respectively, with a stoichiometry of 3Cu2+: 1ENa and 1JNa; (ii) the external Cu2+-dependent internal Na concentration could be parsimoniously estimated, and (iii) the site-specific clam gill potentials could be monitored. Here we provided a new approach to monitor waterborne metal toxicity to reduce the nationwide economic losses due to bans on harvesting of contaminated clam and the potential risks to the health of clams.

Linking valve closure behavior and sodium transport mechanism in freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea in response to copper.

The purpose of this study is to develop a mechanistic model to describe a conceptually new "flux-biological response" approach based on biotic ligand model (BLM) and Michaelis-Menten (M-M) kinetics to allow the linkage between valve closure behavior and sodium (Na) transport mechanism in freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea in response to waterborne copper (Cu). We test the proposed model against published data regarding Na uptake kinetics in rainbow trout and Na uptake profile in C. fluminea, confirming that the predictive model is robust. Here, we show that the predicted M-M maximum Cu internalization flux in C. fluminea is 0.369 micromolg(-1)h(-1) with a half-saturation affinity constant of 7.87x10(-3) microM. Dynamics of Na uptake and valve closure daily rhythm driven by external Cu can also be predicted simultaneously. We suggest that this "Na transport-valve closure behavior" approach might provide the basis of a future design of biomonitoring tool.

A dynamic artificial clam (Corbicula fluminea) allows parsimony on-line measurement of waterborne metals.

We introduce a novel on-line biomonitoring system based on a valvometric conversion technique for clam Corbicula fluminea, allowing for rapid, continuous, and ecological relevant water quality control. Our model builds upon the basic principles of biological early warning system model in two ways. We first adopted a risk-based methodology to build a dynamic artificial clam for simulating how the bivalve closure rhythm in response to waterborne copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd). Secondly, we integrated a probabilistic model associated with the time-varying dose-response relationships of valve closing behavior into the mechanisms of a dynamic artificial clam, allowing estimation of the time-varying waterborne Cu/Cd concentrations for on-line providing the outcomes of the toxicity detection technique. Measurements with Cu/Cd were performed and the calculated EC50 values were compared with published data for the valve movement test with C. fluminea. This proposed dynamic artificial clam provides a better quantitative understanding of on-line biomonitoring measurements of waterborne metals and may foster applications in clam farm management strategy and ecotoxicological risk assessment.

Sensory determinants of valve rhythm dynamics provide in situ biodetection of copper in aquatic environments.

This study successfully applied an improved valvometry technique to measure waterborne copper (Cu), based on valve activity dynamics of the freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea. The improved valvometry technique allows the use of free-range bivalves and avoids causing stresses from experimental artifacts. The proposed daily valve rhythm models and a toxicodynamics-based Hill model were linked to predict valve dynamic responses under different Cu exposures with a circadian valve rhythm endpoint. Cu-specific detection threshold was 5.6 (95 % CI 2.1-9.3) and 19.5 (14.6-24.3) µg L(-1) for C. fluminea, based on response times of 300 and 30 min, respectively. Upon exposure to Cu concentrations in excess of 50 µg L(-1), the alteration of valve rhythm behavior was correlated with Cu concentration within 30 min, indicating notable sensing ability. This study outlines the feasibility of an in situ early warning dynamic biomonitoring system for detection of waterborne Cu based on circadian valve activities of C. fluminea.

Risk-based approach to appraise valve closure in the clam Corbicula fluminea in response to waterborne metals.

We developed a risk-based approach to assess how the valve closure behavior of Asiatic clam Corbicula fluminea responds to waterborne copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd). We reanalyzed the valve closure response data from published literature to reconstruct the response time-dependent dose-response profiles based on an empirical three-parameter Hill equation model. We integrated probabilistic exposure profiles of measured environmental Cu and Cd concentrations in the western coastal areas of Taiwan with the reconstructed dose-response relationships at different integration times of response to quantitatively estimate the valve response risk. The risk assessment results implicate exposure to waterborne Cu and Cd may pose no significant risk to clam valve activity in the short-time response periods (e.g., <30 min), yet a relative high risk for valve closure response to waterborne Cu at response times greater than 120 min is alarming. We successfully linked reconstructed dose-response profiles and EC50-time relationships associated with the fitted daily valve opening/closing rhythm characterized by a three-parameter lognormal function to predict the time-varying bivalve closure rhythm response to waterborne metals. We parameterized the proposed predictive model that should encourage a risk-management framework for discussion of future design of biological monitoring systems.

Combining bioaccumulation and coping mechanism to enhance long-term site-specific risk assessment for zinc susceptibility of bivalves.

The purpose of this study is to conduct a long-term site-specific risk assessment for zinc (Zn) susceptibility of bivalves, green mussel Perna viridis and hard clam Ruditapes philippinarum, based on published experimental data by linking the biologically-based damage assessment model with the subcellular partitioning concept. A comprehensive risk modeling framework was developed to predict susceptibility probability of two bivalve species exposed to waterborne Zn. The results indicated that P. viridis accumulates more Zn toxicity, whereas both toxic potency and the recovery rate of Zn are higher for R. philippinarum. We found that negative linear correlations exist in elimination-recovery and elimination-detoxification relationships, whereas a positive linear correlation was observed in recovery-detoxification relationships for bivalves exposed to waterborne Zn. Simulation results showed that the spatial differences of susceptibility primarily resulted from the variation of waterborne Zn concentration under field conditions. We found that R. philippinarum is more susceptible of Zn than P. viridis under the same exposure condition. Results also suggested that Zn posed no significant susceptibility risk to two bivalve species in Taiwan. We suggested that these two species can be used to biomonitor the water quality on Taiwan coastal areas.

Predicting acute copper toxicity to valve closure behavior in the freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea supports the biotic ligand model.

The objective of this paper is to employ biotic ligand model (BLM) to link between acute copper (Cu) toxicity and its effect on valve closure behavior of freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea in order to further support for the BLM that potentially offers a rapid and cost-effective method to conduct the acute toxicity tests for freshwater clam exposed to waterborne Cu. Reanalysis of published experimental data of C. fluminea closure daily rhythm and dose-response profiles based on the laboratory-acclimated clams showed that a BLM-based Hill model best described the free Cu(2+)-activity-valve closure response relationships. Our proposed Cu-BLM-Corbicula model shows that free ionic form of waterborne Cu binds specifically to a biotic ligand (i.e., clam gills) and impairs normal valve closure behavior, indicating that a fixed-level of metal accumulation at a biotic ligand is required to elicit specific biological effects. With derived mechanistic-based Cu-BLM-Corbicula model, we show that the site-specific EC50(t) and valve closure behavior at any integrated time can be well predicted, indicating that our model has the potential to develop a biomonitoring system as a bioassay tool to on-line measure waterborne Cu levels in aquatic systems. Our results confirm that BLM can be improved to analytically and rigorously describe the bioavailable fraction of metal causing toxicity to valve closure behavior in freshwater C. fluminea. We suggest that the Cu-BLM-Corbicula model can be used to assist in developing technically defensible site-specific water quality criteria and performing ecological risk assessment and to promote more focused and efficient uses of resources in the regulation and control of metals and the protection of the aquatic ecosystems.