An investigation into the toxicity of tissue extracts from two distinct marine Polychaeta

Mariaelena D'Ambrosio; Íris Ramos; Carla Martins; Pedro M Costa

doi:10.1016/j.toxcx.2022.100116

An investigation into the toxicity of tissue extracts from two distinct marine Polychaeta

Toxicon X. 2022 Mar 10:14:100116. doi: 10.1016/j.toxcx.2022.100116. eCollection 2022 Jun.

Authors

Mariaelena D'Ambrosio^{1

2}, Íris Ramos^{1

2}, Carla Martins^{1

2}, Pedro M Costa^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Associate Laboratory i4HB - Institute for Health and Bioeconomy, Department of Life Sciences, NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University of Lisbon, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal.
² UCIBIO - Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit, Department of Life Sciences, NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University of Lisbon, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal.

Abstract

The present study investigated the potential toxicity of venomous secretions of two polychaetes, Hediste diversicolor and Glycera alba (Annelida: Phyllodocida). Toxic activity of putative toxins, measured on mussel gills through the Comet assay, revealed higher effects caused by extracts from H. diversicolor skin and G. alba specialised, jawed proboscis, when compared to control. The results suggest that H. diversicolor secretes toxins via skin for protection against predators, contrarily to G. alba, who secretes toxins for predation.

Keywords: Annelida; Glycera alba; Hediste diversicolor; Marine invertebrates; Toxicity; Venomous compounds.