The comet assay, a sensitive biomarker of water quality improvement following adoption of beneficial agricultural practices?

Numerous actions have been undertaken by farmers to attenuate the impact of agricultural activities on aquatic ecosystems. The identification of biomarkers that respond quickly to water quality improvement could facilitate the assessment of adopted alternative practices and help maintain mobilization among stakeholders. Here, we evaluated the potential of the Comet assay, a biomarker of genotoxic effects, using a freshwater mussel, Elliptio complanata, as a model animal. The frequency of DNA damage was assessed in hemocytes of mussels collected from a pristine habitat (MSH) and caged for 8 weeks in the Pot au Beurre River (PAB), a tributary of Lake St-Pierre (QC, Canada) impacted by agricultural activities. Pesticides and water quality parameters were also measured in surface water on a weekly basis during the caging period. Our findings suggest that the Comet assay is a sensitive tool for the early detection of changes in water toxicity following the adoption of agricultural beneficial practices. All data are a part subject of a publication containing method details, full QA/QC, interpretation and conclusions. Citation: Gendron, A.D., Lacaze, É., Taranu, Z.E., Gouge, R.,…

Publisher

Environment and Climate Change Canada

Resources

2

Catalogue metadata updated

2023-09-14