| Abstrak/Abstract |
The streams across the high-population areas, commercial estates, and industrial zones face continuous threats from different pollutants. The responses of the transplanted mussels in streams used in active biomonitoring programs will reflect the dynamics of environmental conditions in those streams. This work deals with untargeted metabolomic and proteomic responses of the transplanted mussel Sinanodonta woodiana in the Code Stream at three stations (S), i.e., S1, S2, and S3, which reflect a pollution gradient: low, high, and moderate, respectively. The untargeted metabolomics and proteomics responses were investigated in the composite gills and digestive glands using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS). Metabolic analysis has shown clear discrimination among mussel responses in each of the three stations upon exposure for 28 days, with metabolic responses associated with different pollution levels. Metabolomics analysis identified putative metabolites involved in amino acid, nucleotide, and antioxidant pathways, reflecting adaptive responses to environmental stressors. Several compounds, such as 7-oxocholesterol, ( ±)18-HEPE, and glycol oleate, were identified as potential biomarkers of pollutant exposure. The proteomic study shows that the β-actin protein appeared in all the stations. The unexposed gills mussels showed 28% coverage of the β-actin protein sequence, which increased to 29% by S1, 37% by S2, and remained at 28% in S3. The unexposed digestive glands showed 13% coverage of the β-actin protein sequence, which decreased to 12% in S1 and 5% in S2 but increased significantly to 38% in S3. It thus showed that higher and fluctuating levels of pollutants elicit a response at the metabolomic and proteomic levels in S. woodiana. These results are significantly valid in addressing the long-term aspect of aquatic environmental complications. Given the current ecological crises, this work fulfills an urgent need to maintain healthy aquatic ecosystems and develop reliable and robust analysis methods to monitor aquatic ecosystem health. |
