Differential viability of allelic isozymes in the marine gastropod Cerithium scabridum exposed to the environmental stress of nonionic detergent and crude oil-surfactant mixtures

E. Nevo, B. Lavie

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The effects of a nonionic detergent and also of crude oil-detergent mixtures in aqueous solutions were tested by allozyme frequencies at six loci in the Mediterranean marine gastropod Cerithium scabridum Philippi 1849. Our results indicated differential survivorship of allozyme genotypes for both detergent alone and for crude oil-detergent mixtures. This statement is true for all the loci involved in the study. When analyzing each locus separately, two of the six loci (phosphoglucose isomerase and alkaline phosphatase) did not show differential survivorship in detergent pollution. But analyzing the genetic complex involving these two loci we found differential survivorship of specific genotypes. These results reflect the adaptive nature of some PGI genotypes in these marine gastropods and seem inconsistent with the neutral theory of allozyme polymorphisms. Furthermore, these findings suggest that allozyme variants, either singly or in a two-locus structure, demonstrate a differential tolerance to these organic pollutants and can, therefore, be used as detectors of organic pollutants in the sea, as we earlier showed for single loci in two other species of marine gastropods, genus Monodonta (Lavie et al., Environ. Res. 35: 270-276 (1984).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)205-213
Number of pages9
JournalGenetica
Volume78
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1988

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Animal Science and Zoology
  • Genetics
  • Plant Science
  • Insect Science

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