Glutathione S-transferase in marine invertebrates from Langesundfjord

Abstract

Glutathione S-transferase (GST), an enzyme system which conjugates glutathione to a variety of xenobiotics with electrophilic centres, was found during the GEEP Workshop in the digestive glands of the snail Littorina littorea and the mussel Mytilus edulis , and in the hepatopancreas of the crab Carcinus maenas . GST activity was significantly higher in crabs from 2 polluted sites in Langesundfjord, Norway, relative to reference-site crabs but no such differences were found for mussels, in spite of large differences in PAH and PCB tissue concentrations between the sites. In a mesocosm experiment involving diesel oil and copper dosing, no significant effects were observed on crab and mussel GST activity though L. littorea showed significantly higher GST activity at the highest contaminant dose.