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Accumulation and biochemical effects of microcystin-LR on the Patagonian pejerrey (Odontesthes hatcheri) fed with the toxic cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa

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Abstract

We studied accumulation and biochemical effects of microcystin-LR (MCLR) in Odontesthes hatcheri after dietary administration of the cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa (1.3 μg MCLR/g body mass, incorporated in standard fish food). After 12 h, MCLR content in liver did not differ between fish fed with crushed or intact cells, demonstrating O. hatcheri’s capacity to digest cyanobacteria and absorb MCLR. In the second experiment, fish received toxic cells, non-toxic cells, or control food; MCLR accumulation was monitored for 48 h. Protein phosphatase 1 (PP1), catalase (CAT), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activities, and lipid peroxidation (as MDA) were measured in liver and intestine. Methanol-extractable MCLR was determined by PP1 inhibition assay (PPIA); extractable and protein-bound MCLR were measured by Lemieux oxidation-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). MCLR accumulated rapidly up to 22.9 and 9.4 μg MCLR/g in intestine and liver, respectively, followed by a decreasing tendency. Protein-bound MCLR represented 66 to ca. 100 % of total MCLR in both tissues. PP1 activity remained unchanged in intestine but was increased in liver of MCLR treated fish.CAT and GST activities and MDA content were significantly increased by MCLR only in liver. We conclude that O. hatcheri is able to digest cyanobacteria, accumulating MCLR mostly bound to proteins. Our data suggest that this freshwater fish can be adversely affected by cyanobacterial blooms. However, the rapid decrease of the detectable MCLR in both tissues could imply that sublethal toxin accumulation is rapidly reversed.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank to the CEAN staff, especially to Walter Torres, Pablo Hualde and Mariela Demicheli for their kind help with fish and aquaria. We are grateful to Drs. Wayne Carmichael, Sandra Azevedo, and Beatriz Brena for generously providing microcystin-LR standard for previous technique calibration and helping with toxin determinations. We acknowledge helpful comments from Andrés Venturino and Fabiana Lo Nostro, and from an anonymous reviewer. This work was supported by grants: CONICET PIP 0282 and ANPCYT-PICT 00214 to CML. FB and VAB are doctoral students supported by CONICET. CML is a researcher at CONICET.

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  1. Laboratory of Aquatic Ecotoxicology, INIBIOMA (CONICET-UNCo), Epulafquen 30 Casa 2, 8371, Junín de los Andes, Neuquén, Argentina

    Flavia Bieczynski, Virginia A. Bianchi & Carlos M. Luquet

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  1. Flavia Bieczynski
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Bieczynski, F., Bianchi, V.A. & Luquet, C.M. Accumulation and biochemical effects of microcystin-LR on the Patagonian pejerrey (Odontesthes hatcheri) fed with the toxic cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa . Fish Physiol Biochem 39, 1309–1321 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-013-9785-7

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