Oxidative stress responses were evaluated in the digestive gland tissue of Perna viridis exposed to wateraccommodated fractions (WAFs) of petrol and diesel at and 5% concentrations over 5-, 10-, and 15-day periods. | Turk J Biol 36 (2012) 493-505 © TÜBİTAK doi: Biomarkers of petroleum contamination in the digestive gland of Perna viridis (L.) Xivanand Narayan VERLECAR1, Karmabeer JENA2, Somshekher Raghoba DESAI1, Priya Brata DAS1, Gagan Bihari Nityananda CHAINY3 1 Biological Oceanography Division, National Institute of Oceanography, Dona-Paula, Goa-403004 - INDIA 2 Central Tasar Research & Training Institute, Central Silk Board, Ranchi, Jharkhand - INDIA 3 Department of Zoology & Biotechnology, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Orissa - INDIA Received: ● Accepted: Abstract: Oxidative stress responses were evaluated in the digestive gland tissue of Perna viridis exposed to wateraccommodated fractions (WAFs) of petrol and diesel at and 5% concentrations over 5-, 10-, and 15-day periods. Increased lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyl, DNA integrity, and hydrogen peroxide in WAF-exposed specimens are indicative of oxidative damage due to dissolved petroleum extracts. A consistent increase in superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, glutathione-S-transferase, reduced glutathione, and ascorbic acid in WAF-exposed specimens signify the importance of antioxidants in protecting the cell against the oxidative damage arising from petroleum contamination. The responses of field specimens collected from petroleum-contaminated sites support the observed laboratory experimental results. This research recommends the use of these oxidative stress indices in the digestive gland tissue of Perna viridis as biomarkers of petroleum contamination. Key words: Perna viridis, water-accommodated fraction, petroleum contamination, oxidative stress, digestive gland, biomarkers Introduction Tropical coastal waters that sustain rich benthic population diversity have been threatened by repeated incidents of oil pollution over the past few decades. Besides the Macondo well blowout in April 2010 (1), which greatly .
