Canapa A ; Barucca M ; Celeste A ; Olmo E ; Regoli F ;

Marine Environmental Research vol. 54 (3-5)   pp. 673-7, 2002

Istituto Biologia e Genetica, Universita di Ancona, Italy.

This paper describes the development of a RT-PCR method for assaying Vtg gene expression in different marine fish as a potentially valuable and sensitive biomarker of exposure to estrogenic chemicals. The levels of Vtg mRNA have been analyzed using primers specifically designed for the various species and the procedures have been standardized relative to actine mRNA expression levels. Different species were analyzed including organisms with a great potential as bioindicators in the Mediterranean (i.e. the red mullet Mullus barbatus, the striped mullet Mugil cephalus, the European eel Anguilla anguilla) or exposed to biomagnification of halogenated hydrocarbons and with elevated commercial value (the bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus). The analysis of vitellogenin mRNA levels has been standardized in feral fish providing suitable indications for a future development of this approach.

Anguilla ;  Physiology ;  Animals ;  Biological Markers ;  Analysis ;  Endocrine System ;  Drug effects ;  Environmental Monitoring ;  Female ;  Gene Expression Regulation ;  Male ;  Mediterranean Sea ;  RNA ;  Messenger ;  Biosynthesis ;  Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ;  Methods ;  Veterinary ;  Sensitivity and Specificity ;  Smegmamorpha ;  Tuna ;  Vitellogenins ;  Water Pollutants ;  Chemical ;  Adverse effects ;