Chronic Degradation of Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests Increases the Incidence of Genotoxicity in Birds.

Multiple studies have shown that exposure to pollutants can increase genotoxic damage in different taxa. However, to our knowledge, the effects of environmental stress have been explored little. In certain stressful ecosystems, such as seasonally dry tropical forests, the combined effects of anthropogenic activities and ongoing global changes can cause an increase in environmental stresses, in turn, may trigger physiological and genetic effects on biodiversity. The present aims to assess changes in the prevalence of genotoxic damage in birds within three states of forest degradation in the Tumbesian Region of Western Ecuador. We used blood samples from 50 bird species to determine the frequency of micronucleus and nuclear abnormalities in erythrocytes. Our results revealed a significant impact of forest degradation on the occurrence probability of micronucleus and nuclear abnormalities at the community level. Localities with higher levels of degradation exhibited higher levels of abnormalities. However, when analyzing the dominant species, we found contrasting responses. While Lepidocolaptes souleyetii showed a reduction in the proportion of nuclear abnormalities from the natural to shrub-dominated localities Troglodytes aedon and Polioptila plumbea showed an increase for semi-natural and shrub-dominated respectively. We concluded that the degradation process of these tropical forests increases the stress of bird community generating genotoxic damage. Bird responses seem to be species-specific, which could explain the differences in changes in bird composition reported in other studies.

Genotoxicidad de los nanomateriales, grandes discrepancias y desafíos / Genotoxicity of nanomaterials, discrepancies and challenges

La nanotecnología es el estudio, diseño, creación, síntesis, manipulación y aplicación de materiales a través del control de la materia a escala nanométrica, entre 1 a 100 nanómetros. Se considera que la nanoteconología está revolucionando nuestro mundo. Los nanomateriales son ampliamente utilizados en diferentes campos por sus propiedades únicas pero también pueden causar efectos adversos tanto para la salud humana como para el ambiente, por lo que es necesario conocer los riesgos y los factores que incrementan estos efectos adversos. En esta revisión abordamos los nanomateriales y sus tipos, los aspectos tóxicos con énfasis en el efecto genotóxico, ya que por sus implicaciones de daños en el ADN pueden iniciar y promover la carcinogénesis, o afectar la fertilidad, ciertas consideraciones que deben tomarse en cuenta en el momento de la evaluación genotóxica de los NMs. Aunque existe cierta evidencia de alteraciones al exponer las células a los nanomateriales, todavía existen deficiencias e inconsistencias en la literatura y en las normativas para conocer las características físico-químicas de los nanomateriales, cómo actúan, y sus posibles cambios con el tiempo (AU)

Nanotechnology is the study, design, creation, synthesis, manipulation and application of materials through the control of matter at the nanometer scale, between 1-100 nanometers. Nanotechnology is revolutionizing our world. Nanomaterials are widely used in various fields thanks to their unique properties. However, nanomaterials can also result in adverse health effects and the environment, it is necessary to know the risks and factors that increase these effects. In this review we focus on nanomaterials and their types, the toxic aspects of nanoparticles; with emphasis on the genotoxic effects and DNA damage that can initiate or promote carcinogenesis or affect fertility as well as the guidelines for the application of genotoxicity tests. Although there is some evidence of changes that occur when cells are exposed to nanomaterials, there is still a dearth of consistent results in the literature and in regulatory documents in terms of physicochemical characteristics of nanomaterials, their mechanisms, and exposure (AU)