Trace elements and arsenic speciation in tissues of tube dwelling polychaetes from hydrothermal vent ecosystems (East Pacific Rise): An ecological role as antipredatory strategy?
Type | Article | ||||||||||||
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Date | 2017-12 | ||||||||||||
Language | English | ||||||||||||
Author(s) | Di Carlo Marta1, Giovannelli Donato2, 3, 4, Fattorini Daniele1, 6, Le Bris Nadine5, Vetriani Costantino, Regoli Francesco1, 6 | ||||||||||||
Affiliation(s) | 1 : Univ Politecn Marche UNIVPM, Dipartimento Sci Vita & Ambiente DISVA, Ancona, Italy. 2 : Rutgers State Univ, Inst Earth Ocean & Atmospher Sci, Dept Biochem & Microbiol, New Brunswick, NJ USA. 3 : CNR, Ist Sci Marine ISMAR, Ancona, Italy. 4 : Tokyo Inst Technol, Earth Life Sci Inst, Tokyo, Japan. 5 : UPMC Univ Paris 6, Sorbonne Univ, CNRS, Lab Ecogeochim Environm Benth,Observ Oceanol, F-66650 Banyuls Sur Mer, France. 6 : Consorzio Nazl Interuniv Sci Mare, CoNISMa, Rome, Italy. |
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Source | Marine Environmental Research (0141-1136) (Elsevier Sci Ltd), 2017-12 , Vol. 132 , P. 1-13 | ||||||||||||
DOI | 10.1016/j.marenvres.2017.10.003 | ||||||||||||
WOS© Times Cited | 5 | ||||||||||||
Keyword(s) | Hydrothermal vent system, Polychaetes, Bioaccumulation, Arsenic chemical speciation, Trace elements, Adaptation | ||||||||||||
Abstract | Hydrothermal vent systems are inhabited by dense benthic communities adapted to extreme conditions such as high temperature, hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and elevated fluxes of metals. In the present work, a wide range of trace elements (Ag, Al, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, V and Zn) were measured in tissues of three tube dwelling annelids, Alvinella pompejana, Alvinella caudata and Riftia pachyptila, which colonize distinct habitats of the East Pacific Rise (EPR) at 2500 m depth. Metals concentrations in alvinellids were often 2–4 orders of magnitude higher than those commonly found in marine organisms, while much lower values were observed in the vestimentiferan polychaete. Mobility of trace elements was further characterized in tissues of A. pompejana where metals appeared mostly in insoluble forms, i.e. associated with hydrated oxides and sulphides. Arsenic was mainly present in a weakly insoluble form and with concentrations in the branchial tentacles of alvinellids, approximately 5–15 fold higher than those measured in the thorax. Chemical speciation of this element in tissues of the three polychaete species revealed a major contribution of methylated arsenic compounds, like dimethylarsinate (DMA) and, to a lower extent, monomethylarsonate (MMA) and trimethylarsine oxide (TMAO). Although the biotransformation of inorganic arsenic might represent a detoxification mechanism in polychaetes from hydrothermal vents, the elevated levels of methylated forms of arsenic in branchial tissues also suggest an ecological role of this element as an antipredatory strategy for more vulnerable tissues toward generalist consumers. |
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