A multi-biomarker approach in cross-transplanted mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis Angela Serafim • Belisandra Lopes • Rui Company • Alexandra Cravo • Ta ˆnia Gomes • Va ˆnia Sousa • Maria Joa ˜o Bebianno Accepted: 2 July 2011 / Published online: 17 July 2011 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 Abstract The present work integrates the active bio- monitoring (ABM) concept in mussels Mytilus gallopro- vincialis from the South coast of Portugal transplanted during 28 days between two sites with different sources of contamination, and vice versa, in order to assess biological effects in these mussels. For that purpose a multibiomarker approach was used. The suit of biomarkers indicative of metal contamination were metallothioneins (MT) and the enzyme d-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD), for organic contamination mixed function oxidase system (MFO), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and acetylcholin- esterase (AChE), as oxidative stress biomarkers superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and lipid peroxidation (LPO). These biomarkers were used to determine an index to evaluate the stress levels in these two sites. Site A is strongly influenced by metallic contamination, with higher Cu, Cr and Pb in M. galloprovinciallis, as well as higher MT levels, anti- oxidant enzymes activities and LPO concentrations, and lower ALAD activity. In site B organic compounds (PAHs) are prevalent and native mussels show higher activities of the MFO system components and GST. Transplanted mussels had significant alterations in some biomarkers that reflect the type of contaminants present in each site, which demonstrates the primary role of the environment in determining the physiological characteristics of resident mussels. Therefore the application of ABM using a battery of biomarkers turns out to be a useful approach in sites where usually complex mixtures of contaminants occurs. In this study the biomarkers that better differentiate the impact of different contaminants at each site were MT, CYP450, SOD and CAT. Keywords Active biomonitoring Á Cross-transplant Á Multi-biomarker Á Mytilus galloprovincialis Introduction In the last years, many studies focused on the integrated approach of biological effects of toxicants in organisms as important tools to assess environmental quality of coastal areas. This approach aimed to understand the sublethal effects of contaminants on the marine environment using active biomonitoring (ABM), with the advantage of assuring comparable samples, reducing the variability normally encountered in field studies (Nasci et al. 2000). The concept of shellfish transplant within the marine environment for the purpose of monitoring the effects of contaminants was primarily established in 1977 with the California State Mussel Watch Programme (Martin 1992) and in the large-scale Mussel Watch Programme since 1986 using transplanted Mytilus edulis (O’Connor 1992). In this context, an increasing number of studies report the transplant of bivalves to establish the levels of bioac- cumulation of, or exposure to, contaminants. The translo- cation of bioindicator species, especially mussels, from a clean or control site to a polluted study area is a useful strategy for the assessment of water quality in coastal areas, either through bioaccumulation of contaminants or biomarker responses (Regoli and Orlando 1994; Regoli 2000; Da Ros et al. 2002; Nasci et al. 2002; Riveros et al. A. Serafim (&) Á B. Lopes Á R. Company Á A. Cravo Á T. Gomes Á V. Sousa Á M. J. Bebianno (&) CIMA, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal e-mail: aserafim@ualg.pt M. J. Bebianno e-mail: mbebian@ualg.pt 123 Ecotoxicology (2011) 20:1959–1974 DOI 10.1007/s10646-011-0737-7