Erythrocytic abnormalities in three Antarctic penguin species along the Antarctic Peninsula: biomonitoring of genomic damage

• Published in: Polar Biology
• Main Authors: Mas, Eva de, Benzal, Jesús, Merino, Santiago, Valera, Francisco, Palacios, María José, Cuervo, José Javier, Barbosa, Andrés
• Other Authors: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España), European Commission
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer 2015
• Subjects: Erythrocytic abnormalities; Genotoxic damage; Antarctica; Penguins; Pollutants; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Avian Island; Deception Island; King George Island; The Antarctic; Torgersen; Torgersen Island; Yalour; Antarc*; Gentoo penguin; Polar Biology; Pygoscelis adeliae; Pygoscelis antarctica; Pygoscelis papua
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/122028; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1667-2; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100004837; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000780

Pollutants and toxic contaminants produced in all parts of the world are transported to remote regions including Antarctica. Tourism, research, and fishing activities on this continent are another source of contamination. Toxic substances affect Antarctic species, and some produced genomic damage to the fauna. The genetic damage can be detected by microscopic observation of erythrocytic nuclear abnormalities (ENAs). We counted the number of ENAs in seven populations of three Pygoscelid penguin species, Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae), Chinstrap (Pygoscelis antarctica), and Gentoo (Pygoscelis papua), and found important differences among species exposed to the same conditions. ENAs were more frequent in Adélie penguins than in the other two species. Inter-population comparisons within species showed remarkable differences in Adélie and Chinstrap penguins but not in Gentoo penguin. Frequency of ENAs in Adélie penguins was the highest in Yalour Island population, intermediate in King George Island population, and the lowest in Torgersen Island and Avian Island populations. In Chinstrap penguins, the highest number of ENAs was found on Deception Island, and significant differences were found only between Deception Island and King George Island populations. This information will provide baseline data to be used for assessing the evolution of genomic damage of penguins along the Antarctic Peninsula in the future. This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the European Regional Development Fund under the Projects REN2001-5004/ANT, CGL2004-03148, POL2006-05175, CGL2007-60369 and CTM2011-24427 during writing. Peer reviewed