Assessment of the effect of the phototoxicity of anthracene on the mortality and damage to the DNA of juveniles of Florida pompanos, Trachinotus carolus

Author(s)

Fabio Matsu Hasue

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto Oceanográfico (IO/DIDC)
• Defense date: 2011-03-18

Examining board members

Phan Van Ngan; Claudia Bueno dos Reis Martinez

• Advisor: Phan Van Ngan

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are toxic and/or genotoxic to a variety of marine organisms and under solar or artificial ultraviolet radiation acute toxicity of many of them can be substantially enhanced. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of the phototoxicity of anthracene on the mortality and damage to the DNA, assessed by the comet assay, of juveniles of Florida pompanos, Trachinotus carolinus. The fish were pre-contaminated in the dark by three concentrations of 8, 16 and 32 µg/L of anthracene for 24 hours then transferred to clean seawater to be exposed to fluorescent light or to artificial ultraviolet B radiation (UVB - 35µW/cm2). Control groups (water and ethanol) were carried out in the same experimental conditions. The exposures to fluorescent light were carried out in cumulative periods of 10, 20 and 30 hours (5h/day). The exposures to UVB were conducted during periods of 2 to 10 hours. In the absence of ultraviolet radiation, the anthracene did not prove to be toxic, but its genotoxicity, evaluated as damage caused to the DNA, proved to be dose dependent. The UVB is lethal to Florida pompanos. The exposure of fish to the anthracene following UVB exposure for 2 hours resulted in earlier and higher mortality when compared to uncontaminated fish. These results indicated that anthracene is phototoxic to the pompanos. The comet assay can be considered a sensitive tool to evaluate the genotoxic effect of PAHs in coastal marine fish. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 08/07824-0 - Assement of the anthracene phototoxicity about the mortality and damage to the DNA of juvenile Florida pompano, Trachinotus carolinus (Linnaeus, 1766)
• Grantee: Fabio Matsu Hasue
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master