Marine bivalve mussels, especially Mytilus species are an earlywarning system used for determining of damage caused by the various aquatic pollutions. In the present study, Mytilus galloprovincialis L. (black mussel) have been utilised as a biomonitoring organism to reveal environmental pollution in the Aliaga, Foca and Urla where located along the Izmir Coast of Turkey. Mussels were collected at these areas and gill and hepatopancreas (digestive gland) tissues were excised. mRNA expressions of initiator (caspase-2 and -8) and executioner (caspase -3/7-1, -3/7-2, -3/7-3 and -3/7-4) caspases of mussels tissues in areas exposed to pollution agent have been observed. TUNEL immunoreactivity in paralel to histopathological changes in both Aliaga and Foca areas were compared with Urla. This study is the first report to reveal the pollution with apoptotic expression on mussels in the coast of Turkey.
Keywords: Mytilus galloprovincialis L.; RT-PCR; TUNEL assay; apoptosis; caspase; histopathology.
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