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Ectoine alleviates behavioural, physiological and biochemical changes in Daphnia magna subjected to formaldehyde

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 22, pages 15549–15562 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Ectoine (ECT) is produced by halophilic microorganisms in response to various stressful factors. Its protective properties in bacteria and some populations of isolated cells are known; however, no data are available on its protective influence on aquatic invertebrates subjected to a common pollutant, formaldehyde (FA). The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of FA alone (at 20 and 60 mg/L) and in the combination with various concentrations of ECT (5, 10 and 25 mg/L) at various times of exposure on behavioural, physiological and biochemical parameters of Daphnia magna. Specifically, mortality, heart rate, thoracic limb movement, reduced glutathione (GSH)/oxidised glutathione (GSSG) ratio, catalase (CAT) activity and nitric oxide (NOx) levels were determined. The results showed that both concentrations of FA when administered alone induced significant alterations of the determined parameters. On the other hand, animals treated with the combinations of FA + ECT showed decreased mortalities, attenuated inhibition of heart rates and thoracic limb activities, less decreased GSH/GSSG ratios, lower stimulation of CAT activities and NOx levels when compared to the crustaceans subjected to FA alone. The most distinct attenuation of toxic effects was observed in the combinations in which the highest concentrations of ECT were used. The results suggest that oxidative stress induced by FA in daphnids is likely to be alleviated by the antioxidative action of ECT.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Promega Corp. for a free sample of GSH/GSSG assay kit and Prof. Tadeusz Skowroński for a word of advice.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology and Ecotoxicology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Environmental Sciences, The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Kontstantynów 1 “I”, 20-708, Lublin, Poland

    Adam Bownik

  2. Department of Biochemistry and Environmental Chemistry, Faculty of Biotechnology and Environmental Sciences, The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Kontstantynów 1 “I”, 20-708, Lublin, Poland

    Zofia Stępniewska

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Correspondence to Adam Bownik.

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Bownik, A., Stępniewska, Z. Ectoine alleviates behavioural, physiological and biochemical changes in Daphnia magna subjected to formaldehyde. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 15549–15562 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4747-5

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Keywords

  • Ectoine
  • Formaldehyde
  • Daphnia
  • Glutathione
  • Oxidative stress
  • Catalase
  • Nitric oxide