Use of Metallomics and Metabolomics to Assess Metal Pollution in Doñana National Park (SW Spain)

• Published in: Environmental science & technology 2014-07, Vol.48 (14), p.7747-7755
• Main Authors: GARDA-SEVILLANO, M. A, GARCIA-BARRERA, T, NAVARRO, F, ABRIL, N, PUEYO, C, LOPEZ-BAREA, J, GOMEZ-ARIZA, J. L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - metabolism; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Cell-Free System; Chromatography; Chromatography, Gel; Contamination; Discriminant Analysis; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on vertebrates; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental Pollution - analysis; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Heavy metals; Kidney - enzymology; Least-Squares Analysis; Liver - metabolism; Mammalia; Mass spectrometry; Metabolomics; Metals; Metals - analysis; Mice; Mus spretus; National parks; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxidative stress; Pollution; Spain; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; Spectrophotometry, Atomic; Tissue Extracts
• ISSN: 0013-936X; 1520-5851
• DOI: 10.1021/es4057938

Monitoring organism exposure to heavy metals has acquired increased importance in the last decades. The mouse Mus spretus has been used to assess the biological response to contaminants in the relevant ecological area of Doñana National Park (DNP) and surrounding areas (SW Spain), where many migrating birds land for breeding and feeding every year. A metallomics approach, based on the characterization of metal biomolecules using size exclusion chromatography coupled with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (SEC-ICP-MS) and a metabolomics approach based on direct infusion to a mass spectrometer (DI-ESI-QTOF-MS) followed by a partial linear square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), were used to compare the biological responses of M. spretus living in three areas of DNP (the reference) and surrounding areas (El Partido and El Matochal). The activities of key antioxidant enzymes, such as Cu/Zn-SOD, Mn-SOD, CAT, GR, and guaiacol peroxidase, were also determined in connection with environmental contamination issues. The results show differences caused by the presence of metals in the ecosystem that affected to the levels of metals and metalloproteins, such as MT, Cu/Zn-SOD, or Mn-CA, the breakdown of membrane phospholipids, perturbations in metabolic pathways, related to energy metabolism, and oxidative stress.