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Predicting the bioremediation potential of earthworms of different ecotypes through a multi-biomarker approach.

Authors :
Sanchez-Hernandez JC
Narváez C
Cares XA
Sabat P
Naidu R
Source :
The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2023 Mar 01; Vol. 862, pp. 160547. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Dec 05.
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

Earthworms are attracting the attention of bioremediation research because of their short-term impact on pollutant fate. However, earthworm-assisted bioremediation largely depends on the earthworm sensitivity to target pollutants and its metabolic capacity to break down contaminants. The most studied species in soil bioremediation has been Eisenia fetida, which inhabits the soil surface feeding on decomposing organic residues. Therefore, its bioremediation potential may be limited to organic matter-rich topsoil. We compared the detoxification potential against organophosphate (OP) pesticides of three earthworm species representative of the main ecotypes: epigeic, anecic, and endogeic. Selected biomarkers of pesticide detoxification (esterases, cytochrome P450-dependent monooxygenase, and glutathione S-transferase) and oxidative homeostasis (total antioxidant capacity, glutathione levels, and glutathione reductase [GR] and catalase activities) were measured in the muscle wall and gastrointestinal tract of E. fetida (epigeic), Lumbricus terrestris (anecic) and Aporrectodea caliginosa (endogeic). Our results show that L. terrestris was the most suitable species to bioremediate OP-contaminated soil for the following reasons: 1) Gut carboxylesterase (CbE) activity of L. terrestris was higher than that of E. fetida, whereas muscle CbE activity was more sensitivity to OP inhibition than that of E. fetida, which means a high capacity to inactivate the toxic oxon metabolites of OPs. 2) Muscle and gut phosphotriesterase activities were significantly higher in L. terrestris than in the other species. 3) Enzymatic (catalase and GR) and molecular mechanisms of free radical inactivation (glutathione) were 3- to 4-fold higher in L. terrestris concerning E. fetida and A. caliginosa, which reveals a higher potential to keep the cellular oxidative homeostasis against reactive metabolites formed during OP metabolism. Together with biological and ecological traits, these toxicological traits suggest L. terrestris a better candidate for soil bioremediation than epigeic earthworms.<br />Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.<br /> (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1879-1026
Volume :
862
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
The Science of the total environment
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
36481136
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160547