Nature Environment and Pollution Technology

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Genomic Biomarker Approaches in Environmental Monitoring Processes - A Review


Affiliations
1 School of Biosciences and Technology, VIT University, Vellore 632 014, India
 

Sufficient knowledge on the effects of pollutants at different levels of biological organization in an aquatic environment is needed for the reliable environmental risk assessment of pollutants, or hazard identification of environmental contaminants/pollutants. Biochemical biomarkers have been considered as the most promising tool for monitoring the early damages caused by pollutants to aquatic organisms, either at acute or sub-acute levels. These biomarkers of early chemical exposure can aid in avoiding further chemical exposure and those specific biomarkers may help to minimize further damage to the environment. In addition to assessing the presence or absence of an exposure or effect, ability to quantify the exposure and dose-response in some way would be useful for risk assessment. New approaches are needed for environmental risk assessment to catch up with the backlog of contaminants and keep pace with the increasing surge of new potential risks. These biomarkers provide us the confidence of accurate prediction to employ suitable prevention processes. Thus, it can be considered as an ounce of pollution prevention that can be worth a pound of waste treatment. An attempt has been made in this review to describe the importance of biomarker research and exploring the possibility of employing suitable new molecular approaches to protect and preserve the health of the environment.

Keywords

Biochemical Biomarkers, Environmental Monitoring, Risk Assessment, Aquatic Pollutants.
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • Adams, S.M. 2002. Biological indicators of aquatic ecosystem stress. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

  • Ankley, G.T., Daston, G.P. and Degitz, S.J. 2006. Toxicogenomics in regulatory ecotoxicology. Environ. Sci. Technol., 40: 4055-4065.

  • Benninghoff, A.D. 2007. Toxicoproteomics-the next step in the evolution of environmental biomarkers. Toxicol. Sci., 95: 1-4.

  • Bishop, W.E., Clarke, D.P. and Travis, C.C. 2001. The genomic revolution: what does it mean for risk assessment? Risk. Anal., 21: 983-987.

  • Brown, R.J., Galloway, T.S., Lowe, D., Browne, M.A., Dissanayake, A., Jones, M.B. and Depledge, M.H. 2004. Differential sensitivity of three marine invertebrates to copper assessed using multiple biomarkers. Aquat. Toxicol., 66:267-278.

  • Calzolai, L., Ansorge, W., Calabrese, E., Denslow, N., Part, P. and Lettieri, T. 2007. Transcriptomics and proteomics. Applications to ecotoxicology. Comp. Biochem. Physiol., 2: 245-249.

  • Chora, S., McDonagh, B., Sheehan, D., Starita-Geribaldi, M., Romeo, M. and Bebianno, M.J. 2008. Ubiquitination and carbonylation as markers of oxidative-stress in Ruditapesdecussatus. Mar. Environ. Res., 66:95-97.

  • Connon, R., Hooper, H.L., Sibly, R.M., Lim, F.L., Heckmann, L.H., Moore, D.J., Watanabe, H., Soetaert, A., Cook, K., Maund, S.J., Hutchinson, T.H., Moggs, J., De Coen, W., Iguchi, T. and Callaghan, A. 2008. Linking molecular and population stress responses in Daphnia magna exposed to cadmium. Environ. Sci. Technol., 42: 2181-2188.

  • Denslow, N.D., Lee, H.S., Bowman, C.J., Hemmer, M.J. and Folmar, L.C. 2001. Multiple responses in gene expression in fish treated with estrogen. Comp Biochem. Physiol. B, 129: 277-282.

  • Depledge, M.H. and Fossi, M.C. 1994. The role of biomarkers in environmental assessment (2). Invertebrates. Ecotoxicology, 3(3): 161-172.

  • Depledge, M.H., Aagaard, A. and Györkös, P. 1995. Assessment of trace metal toxicity using molecular, physiological and behavioural biomarkers. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 31: 19-27.

  • Hamadeh, H. K., Bushel, P., Tucker, C. J., Martin, K., Paules, R. and Afshari, C. A. 2002a. Detection of diluted gene expression alterations using cDNA microarrays. Biotechniques, 32: 326-329.

  • Hamadeh, H. K., Bushel, P. R., Jayadev, S., DiSorbo, O., Bennett, L., Li, L., Tennant, R., Stoll, R., Barrett, J. C. and Paules, R. S. et al. 2002b. Prediction of compound signature using high density gene expression profiling. Toxicol. Sci., 67: 232-240.

  • Heckmann, L.H., Sibly, R.M., Connon, R., Hooper, H.L., Hutchinson, T.H., Maund, S.J., Hill, C.J., Bouetard, A. and Callaghan, A. 2008. Systems biology meets stress ecology: linking molecular and organismal stress responses in Daphnia magna. Genome Biol., 9: R40.1-R40.14.

  • Jemec, A., Drobne, D., Tišler, T., Trebše, P., Roš, M. and Sepèiæ, K. 2007a. The applicability of acetylcholinesterase and glutathione S-transferase in Daphnia magna toxicity test. Comp. Biochem. Physiol., 144: 303-309.

  • Jemec, A., Tišler, T., Drobne, D., Sepèiæ, K., Fournier, D. and Trebše P. 2007b. Comparative toxicity of imidacloprid, of its commercial liquid formulation and of diazinon to a non-target arthropod, the microcrustacean Daphnia magna. Chemosphere, 68: 14081418.

  • Jemec, A., Tišler, T., Drobne, D., Sepèiæ, K., Jamnik, P. and Roš, M. 2008. Biochemical biomarkers in chronically metal-stressed daphnids. Comp. Biochem. Physiol., 147: 61-68.

  • Knowles, C.O. and McKee, M.J. 1987. Protein and nucleic acid content in Daphnia magna during chronic exposure to cadmium. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf., 13: 290-300.

  • Lagadic, L. 1999. Biomarkers in invertebrates. In: Peakall DB, Colin HW, Migula P (eds) Biomarkers: a pragmatic basis for remediation of severe pollution in Eastern Europe. NATO Science Series, Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, Netherlands.

  • Maples, N.L. and Bain, L.J. 2004. Trivalent chromium alters gene expression in the mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus). Environ. Tox. Chem., 23: 626-631.

  • McCarthy, J.F. and Shugart, L.R. 1990. Biomarkers of Environmental Contamination. Lewis Pub., Chelsea, USA.

  • Mi, J., Apraiz, I. and Cristobal, S. 2007. Peroxisomal proteomic approach for protein profiling in blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) exposed to crude oil. Biomarkers, 12: 47-60.

  • Miracle, A.L. and Ankley, G.T. 2005. Ecotoxicogenomics: linkages between exposure and effects in assessing risks of aquatic contaminants to fish. Repro. Toxicol., 19: 321-326.

  • Moore, M.M. 2002. Biocomplexity: the post-genome challenge in ecotoxicology. Aquat. Toxicol., 59: 1-15.

  • Neumann, N.F. and Galvez, F. 2002. DNA microarrays and toxicogenomics: applications for ecotoxicology? Biotechnol. Adv., 20: 391-419.

  • Nuwaysir, E.F. and Bittner, M. et al. 1999. Microarrays and toxicology: the advent of toxicogenomics. Molecular Carcinogenesis 24: 153-159.

  • Paone, J.F., Waalkes, T.P., Baker, R.R. and Shaper, J.H. 1980. Serum UDP galactosyltransferase as a potential biomarker for breastcarcinoma. J. Surg. Oncol., 15: 59-66.

  • Peakall, D.B. 1994. The role of biomarkers in environmental assessmentintroduction. Ecotoxicology, 3: 157-160.

  • Peakall, D.B. and Walker, C.H. 1994. The role of biomarkers in environmental assessment (3). Vertebrates. Ecotoxicology, 3: 173179.

  • Poynton, H.C., Varshavsky, J.R., Chang, B., Cavigiolio, G., Chan, S., Holman, P.S., Loguinov, A.V., Bauer, D.J., Komachi, K., Theil, E.C., Perkins, E.J., Hughes, O. and Vulpe, C.D. 2007. Daphnia magna ecotoxicogenomics provides mechanistic insights into metal toxicity. Environ. Sci. Technol., 41: 1044-1050.

  • Radenac, G., Bocquene, G., Fichet, D. and Miramand, P. 1998. Contamination of a dredged-material disposal site (La Rochelle Bay, France). The use of the acetylcholinesterase activity of Mytilus edulis (L.) as a biomarker of pesticides: the need for a critical approach. Biomarkers, 3: 305-315.

  • Roling, J.A., Bain, L.J. and Baldwin, W.S. 2004. Differential gene expression in mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) following treatment with pyrene and fluoranthene: comparison to a creosote contaminated site. Mar. Environ. Res., 57: 377-395.

  • Scholz, S., Fischer, S., Gündel, U., Küster, E., Luckenbach, T. and Voelker, D. 2008. The zebrafish embryo model in environmental risk assessment-applications beyond acute toxicity testing. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res., 15: 394-404.

  • Shaw, J.R., Pfrender, M.E., Eads, B.D., Klaper, R., Callaghan, A., Sibly, R.M., Colson, I., Jansen, B., Gilbert, D. and Colbourne, J.K. 2008. Daphnia as an emerging model for toxicological genomics. Adv. Exp. Biol., 2: 327-328.

  • Snape, J.R., Maund, S.J., Pickford, D.B. and Hutchinson, T.H. 2004. Ecotoxicogenomics: the challenge of integrating genomics into aquatic and terrestrial ecotoxicology. Aquat. Toxicol., 67: 143154.

  • Snell, T.W., Brogdon, S.E. and Morgan, M.B. 2003. Gene expression profiling in ecotoxicology. Ecotoxicology, 12: 475-483.

  • Van der Oost, R., Beyer, J. and Vermeulen, N.P.E. 2003. Fish bioaccumulation and biomarkers in environmental risk assessment: a review. Environ. Toxicol. Phar., 13: 57-74.

  • Walker, C.H. 1992. Biochemical responses as indicators of toxic effects of chemicals in ecosystems. Toxicol. Lett., 64/65: 527-533.

  • Walker, C.H. 1999. The use of biomarkers in vertebrates. In: Peakall D.B., Colin H.W., Migula P. (eds.) Biomarkers: a pragmatic basis for remediation of severe pollution in Eastern Europe. NATO Science Series, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands.

  • Waring, J.F., Ciurlionis, R., Jolly, R.A., Heindel, M. and Ulrich, R.G. 2001. Microarray analysis of hepatotoxins in vitro reveals a correlation between gene expression proûles and mechanisms of toxicity. Toxicol. Lett., 120: 359-368.

  • Watanabe, H., Takahashi, E., Nakamura, Y., Oda, S., Tatarazako, N. and Iguchi, T. 2007. Development of a Daphnia magna DNA microarray for evaluating the toxicity of environmental chemicals. Environ. Toxicol. Chem., 26: 669-676.

  • Williams, T.D., Gensberg, K., Minchin, S.D. and Chipman, J.K.A. 2003. DNA expression array to detect toxic stress response in European flounder (Platichthysflesus). Aquat. Toxicol., 65: 141157.


Abstract Views: 132

PDF Views: 0




  • Genomic Biomarker Approaches in Environmental Monitoring Processes - A Review

Abstract Views: 132  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Rajam Chidambaram
School of Biosciences and Technology, VIT University, Vellore 632 014, India

Abstract


Sufficient knowledge on the effects of pollutants at different levels of biological organization in an aquatic environment is needed for the reliable environmental risk assessment of pollutants, or hazard identification of environmental contaminants/pollutants. Biochemical biomarkers have been considered as the most promising tool for monitoring the early damages caused by pollutants to aquatic organisms, either at acute or sub-acute levels. These biomarkers of early chemical exposure can aid in avoiding further chemical exposure and those specific biomarkers may help to minimize further damage to the environment. In addition to assessing the presence or absence of an exposure or effect, ability to quantify the exposure and dose-response in some way would be useful for risk assessment. New approaches are needed for environmental risk assessment to catch up with the backlog of contaminants and keep pace with the increasing surge of new potential risks. These biomarkers provide us the confidence of accurate prediction to employ suitable prevention processes. Thus, it can be considered as an ounce of pollution prevention that can be worth a pound of waste treatment. An attempt has been made in this review to describe the importance of biomarker research and exploring the possibility of employing suitable new molecular approaches to protect and preserve the health of the environment.

Keywords


Biochemical Biomarkers, Environmental Monitoring, Risk Assessment, Aquatic Pollutants.

References