Abstract
Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum is one of the most important economic species in shellfishery in China due to its wide geographic distribution and high tolerance to environmental changes (e.g., salinity, temperature). In addition, Manila clam is a good biomonitor/bioindicator in “Mussel Watch Programs” and marine environmental toxicology. However, there are several pedigrees of R. philippinarum distributed in the marine environment in China. No attention has been paid to the biological differences between various pedigrees of Manila clams, which may introduce undesirable biological variation in toxicology studies. In this study, we applied NMR-based metabolomics to detect the biological differences in two main pedigrees (White and Zebra) of R. philippinarum and their differential responses to heavy metal exposures (Cadmium and Zinc) using adductor muscle as a target tissue to define one sensitive pedigree of R. philippinarum as biomonitor for heavy metals. Our results indicated that there were significant metabolic differences in adductor muscle tissues between White and Zebra clams, including higher levels of alanine, glutamine, hypotaurine, phosphocholine and homarine in White clam muscles and higher levels of branched chain amino acids (valine, leucine and isoleucine), succinate and 4-aminobutyrate in Zebra clam muscles, respectively. Differential metabolic responses to heavy metals between White and Zebra clams were also found. Overall, we concluded that White pedigree of clam could be a preferable bioindicator/biomonitor in marine toxicology studies and for marine heavy metals based on the relatively high sensitivity to heavy metals.
Highlights
Metabolomics is the “systematic study of the unique chemical fingerprints that specific cellular processes leave behind” [1]
Zn)? Thirdly, which pedigree is more sensitive to heavy metal contaminants, Cd and Zn, when adductor muscle is used as a target tissue? In order to answer these three questions, the metabolic differences in adductor muscles between White and Zebra clams and the differential responses between the control and heavy metal-exposed groups were determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics
White clam was more sensitive than Zebra clam to heavy metal exposures (Cd, Zn and mixed Cd and Zn) since more metabolites were sensitively inducible in White clams when adductor muscle was used as a target tissue
Summary
Metabolomics is the “systematic study of the unique chemical fingerprints that specific cellular processes leave behind” [1]. No attention has been paid to the biological differences between various pedigrees of Manila clams, which may introduce undesirable variation in marine environmental toxicology. It is necessary to assess the biological difference between various pedigrees of Manila clam and differential responses to marine environmental heavy metal contaminants. Are there significant biological differences in adductor muscles between White and Zebra clams based on the metabolic profiles? Are the metabolic responses in adductor muscles different between White and Zebra clams to heavy metal exposures In order to answer these three questions, the metabolic differences in adductor muscles between White and Zebra clams and the differential responses between the control and heavy metal-exposed groups were determined by NMR-based metabolomics Zn)? Thirdly, which pedigree is more sensitive to heavy metal contaminants, Cd and Zn, when adductor muscle is used as a target tissue? In order to answer these three questions, the metabolic differences in adductor muscles between White and Zebra clams and the differential responses between the control and heavy metal-exposed groups were determined by NMR-based metabolomics
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