Alterations in the Frequency of Sister Chromatid Exchanges in Flatfish from Puget Sound, Washington, Following Experimental and Natural Exposure to Mutagenic Chemicals

摘要

Contamination of the aquatic environment by chemical pollutants has become a serious environmental problem which is heightened by the fact that a number of these contaminants have been demonstrated to be mutagenic or carcinogenic. In the present study the technique of sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) was applied to English sole (Parophrys vetulus) collected from Puget Sound, Washington. SCE were observed 5.5 days after in vivo exposure to a thymidine analogue, bromodeoxyuridine which allows for differentiation in the staining affinity of chromatids and visualization of exchanges between them. To test the efficacy of this technique as a useful tool in screening fish for evidence of exposure to mutagenic chemicals, the chromosomes of English sole from a polluted site were examined and found to have a significantly higher SCE rate than the baseline. This study showed that the technique of SCE could be successfully applied to a marine fish species and that the effects of low concentrations of mutagens could be detected using this method.