GENOTOXICITY OF SHALLOW WATERS NEAR THE BRAZILIAN ANTARCTIC STATION "COMANDANTE FERRAZ" (EACF), ADMIRALTY BAY, KING GEORGE ISLAND, ANTARCTICA

Series of biomonitoring surveys were undertaken weekly in February 2012 to investigate the genotoxicity of the shallow waters around the Brazilian Antarctic Station "Comandante Ferraz" (EACF). The comet assay was applied to assess the damage to the DNA of hemocytes of the crustacean amphipods Gondogeneia antarctica collected from shallow waters near the Fuel Tanks (FT) and Sewage Treatment Outflow (STO) of the research station, and compare it to the DNA damage of animals from Punta Plaza (PPL) and Yellow Point (YP), natural sites far from the EACF defined as experimental controls. The damage to the DNA of hemocytes of G. antarctica was not significantly different between sites in the biomonitoring surveys I and II. In survey III, the damage to the DNA of animals captured in shallow waters near the Fuel Tanks (FT) and Sewage Treatment Outflow (STO) was significantly higher than that of the control site of Punta Plaza (PPL). In biomonitoring survey IV, a significant difference was detected only between the FT and PPL sites. Results demonstrated that the shallow waters in front of the station may be genotoxic and that the comet assay and hemocytes of G. antarctica are useful tools for assessing genotoxicity in biomonitoring studies of Antarctic marine coastal habitats.

2012年2月，研究团队每周开展一系列生物监测（biomonitoring）调查，以探究巴西南极科曼丹特·费拉斯站（Comandante Ferraz, EACF）周边浅海水域的遗传毒性（genotoxicity）。本研究采用彗星试验（comet assay），对采集自该科考站燃料罐区（Fuel Tanks, FT）与污水处理排放口（Sewage Treatment Outflow, STO）附近浅海水域的端足类甲壳动物（crustacean amphipods）Gondogeneia antarctica的血细胞（hemocytes）DNA损伤水平进行评估，并以远离EACF的天然采样点蓬塔普拉扎（Punta Plaza, PPL）和黄点（Yellow Point, YP）作为实验对照，对比不同采样点的动物DNA损伤差异。在第I、II次生物监测调查中，各采样点南极G. antarctica的血细胞DNA损伤程度无显著差异。在第III次调查中，采集自燃料罐区（FT）与污水处理排放口（STO）附近浅海水域的受试动物，其血细胞DNA损伤程度显著高于对照点蓬塔普拉扎（PPL）的受试动物。在第IV次生物监测调查中，仅在FT与PPL采样点间检测到显著差异。研究结果表明，该站前方浅海水域可能存在遗传毒性，且彗星试验与南极G. antarctica的血细胞可作为评估南极近岸海洋生境生物监测中遗传毒性的有效工具。