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Physiological and molecular responses of the earthworm Eisenia fetida to polychlorinated biphenyl contamination in soil

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Abstract

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a class of man-made organic compounds ubiquitously present in the biosphere. In this study, we evaluated the toxic effects of different concentrations of PCBs in two natural soils (i.e. red soil and fluvo-aquic soil) on the earthworm Eisenia fetida. The parameters investigated included anti-oxidative response, genotoxic potential, weight variation and biochemical responses of the earthworm exposed to two different types of soils spiked with PCBs after 7 or 14 days of exposure. Earthworms had significantly lower weights in both soils after PCB exposure. PCBs significantly increased catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and guaiacol peroxidase (POD) activity in earthworms exposed to either soil type for 7 or 14 days and decreased the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in earthworms exposed to red soil for 14 days. Of the enzymes examined, SOD activity was the most sensitive to PCB stress. In addition, PCB exposure triggered dose-dependent coelomocyte DNA damage, even at the lowest concentration tested. This response was relatively stable between different soils. Three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the weight variation, anti-oxidant enzyme activities, and MDA contents were significantly correlated with exposure concentration or exposure duration (P < 0.01). Furthermore, weight variation, CAT activity, and SOD activity were significantly affected by soil type (P < 0.01). Therefore, the soil type and exposure time influence the toxic effects of PCBs, and these factors should be considered when selecting responsive biomarkers.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (No. 41371469), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (KYZ201626), Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest (No. 201503121-01), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Funded Project (No. 2016M591856), Anhui Postdoctoral Science Foundation Funded Project (No. 2015B057), Science and Technology Project of Anhui Province (1604a0702006), and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD). We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and Ms. Kathleen Farquharson for the language improvement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Soil Ecology Lab, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaochen Duan, Huixin Li, Mingming Sun, Feng Hu, Li Xu & Jiaguo Jiao

  2. College of Resources, Environment and Planning, Dezhou University, Dezhou, 253023, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaochen Duan & Xiuyong Fu

  3. Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Solid Organic Waste Resource Utilization, Nanjing, 210014, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaochen Duan, Huixin Li, Feng Hu, Li Xu & Jiaguo Jiao

  4. Soil and Environment Bioremediation Research Center, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences/State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Nanjing, 210008, People’s Republic of China

    Jing Song

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  1. Xiaochen Duan
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  2. Xiuyong Fu
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  3. Jing Song
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Duan, X., Fu, X., Song, J. et al. Physiological and molecular responses of the earthworm Eisenia fetida to polychlorinated biphenyl contamination in soil. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 18096–18105 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9383-9

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