0000000000070983
AUTHOR
Letizia Di Bella
Assessing the effect of chromium pollution on benthic foraminiferal community: morphological vs. environmental metabarcoding approaches
The purpose of this experimental study is to assess the impact of different concentrations of chromium (Cr) through time on the diversity of cultured benthic foraminifera combining two morphological approaches for the identification of living specimens that are Rose Bengal (RB) staining and CellTracker Green (CTG) labelling as well as environmental DNA and RNA metabarcoding. Seven tanks/aquaria with different concentrations of Cr in water, namely 100 ppt, 1 ppb, 10 ppb, 100 ppb, 1 ppm and 10 ppm plus the control were used. A mesocosm was extracted from each tank at pre-established time (1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks 6 weeks and 8 weeks). Morphological analyses produced 6 datasets based on staini…
The response of cultured meiofaunal and benthic foraminiferal communities to lead exposure: Results from mesocosm experiments
Lead (Pb) has been regarded as a very toxic element that poses a serious threat to biota. A mesocosm experiment is performed to assess the influence of Pb on meiofaunal (metazoans within 45-500 µm) and benthic foraminiferal (protozoans) communities. To this end, sediments bearing such communities are incubated in mesocosms, exposed to different levels of Pb in seawater, and monitored for up to eight weeks. Concentrations of Pb below 1 ppm in water do not promote a significant increase of this metal in sediments. Relatively high concentrations of Pb seem to affect meiofaunal and benthic foraminiferal communities by reducing their richness or diversity, and the abundance of the most sensitive…
Assessing the effect of mercury pollution on cultured benthic foraminifera community using morphological and eDNA metabarcoding approaches
Mercury (Hg) is a highly toxic element for living organisms and is known to bioaccumulate and biomagnify. Here, we analyze the response of benthic foraminifera communities cultured in mesocosm and exposed to different concentrations of Hg. Standard morphological analyses and environmental DNA metabarcoding show evidence that Hg pollution has detrimental effects on benthic foraminifera. The molecular analysis provides a more complete view of foraminiferal communities including the soft-walled single-chambered monothalamiids and small-sized hard-shelled rotaliids and textulariids than the morphological one. Among these taxa that are typically overlooked in morphological studies we found poten…