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Chromosomal Damage in Two Species of Aquatic Turtles (Emys orbicularis and Mauremys caspica) Inhabiting Contaminated Sites in Azerbaijan

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Abstract

The Caspian region and specifically the Apsheron peninsula of Azerbaijan are known to be polluted with a variety of environmental contaminants. These complex mixtures of contaminants make risk assessment difficult. We used the flow cytometry method (FCM) and the micronucleus assay (MN) to assess chromosomal damage in aquatic turtles (Emys orbicularis, the European pond turtle; and Mauremys caspica, the Caspian turtle) inhabiting contaminated wetlands in Azerbaijan. Evidence of genetic damage was found for two sites, Neftchala and Sumgayit, relative to a reference site, Ali Bairamly. Sediment samples from each site were analyzed for PAHs and mercury to evaluate potential contaminant associations with genetic damage. A significant positive correlation was documented between three-ring PAH sediment concentrations and FCM estimates of chromosomal damage in E. orbicularis. These data combine to show that the contaminated wetlands in Sumgayit and Neftchala are genotoxic and that three-ring PAHs are likely a significant influence on observed genotoxicity.

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Acknowledgments

Funding was provided by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences Grant ES04917. We thank the Sumgayit Centre for Environmental Rehabilitation and Arif A. Mekhtiev and Rafik Kasimov of the Karaev Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan Republic for logistical and field support. We also thank Dmitri Politov and William J. Rogers for assistance in field collections.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843-2258, USA

    COLE W. MATSON & JOHN W. BICKHAM

  2. Karaev Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan Republic, Sharifezade 2, 307100, Baku, Azerbaijan

    GRIGORIY PALATNIKOV

  3. Sumgayit Centre for Environmental Rehabilitation, 16 Nizami St., 373200, Sumgayit, Azerbaijan

    ARIF ISLAMZADEH

  4. School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, College Station, TX, 77843-1266, USA

    THOMAS J. MCDONALD & K. C. DONNELLY

  5. Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843-3136, USA

    ROBIN L. AUTENRIETH

  6. Department of Veterinary Anatomy and Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843-4458, USA

    K. C. DONNELLY

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  1. COLE W. MATSON
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  2. GRIGORIY PALATNIKOV
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  3. ARIF ISLAMZADEH
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Correspondence to COLE W. MATSON.

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MATSON, C.W., PALATNIKOV, G., ISLAMZADEH, A. et al. Chromosomal Damage in Two Species of Aquatic Turtles (Emys orbicularis and Mauremys caspica) Inhabiting Contaminated Sites in Azerbaijan. Ecotoxicology 14, 513–525 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-005-0001-0

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