The comet assay, a sensitive biomarker of water quality improvement following adoption of beneficial agricultural practices?

Numerous actions have been undertaken by farmers to attenuate the impact of agricultural activities on aquatic ecosystems. The identification of biomarkers that respond quickly to water quality improvement could facilitate the assessment of adopted alternative practices and help maintain mobilization among stakeholders. Here, we evaluated the potential of the Comet assay, a biomarker of genotoxic effects, using a freshwater mussel, Elliptio complanata, as a model animal. The frequency of DNA damage was assessed in hemocytes of mussels collected from a pristine habitat (MSH) and caged for 8 weeks in the Pot au Beurre River (PAB), a tributary of Lake St-Pierre (QC, Canada) impacted by agricultural activities. Pesticides and water quality parameters were also measured in surface water on a weekly basis during the caging period. Our findings suggest that the Comet assay is a sensitive tool for the early detection of changes in water toxicity following the adoption of agricultural beneficial practices.


All data are a part subject of a publication containing method details, full QA/QC, interpretation and conclusions. Citation: Gendron, A.D., Lacaze, É., Taranu, Z.E., Gouge, R., Larbi-Youcef, Y., Houde, M., André, C., Gagné, F., Triffault-Bouchet, G. and Giroux, I. (2023), The Comet Assay, a Sensitive Biomarker of Water Quality Improvement Following Adoption of Beneficial Agricultural Practices?. Environ Toxicol Chem. doi.org/10.1002/etc.5711

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Metadata Record Information

File Identifier
898745bb-c67d-4a4c-b924-1686232543d7 XML
Date Stamp
2023-08-23T11:42:51
Metadata language

eng; CAN
Character set
UTF8
Hierarchy Level
Dataset
Point of contact
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Science and Technology Branch / Water Science and Technology / Aquatic Contaminants Research Division - ACRD Data Management Team
867 Lakeshore Rd. , Burlington , Ontario , L7S 1A1 , Canada
 

Data identification

Date (Creation)
2023-06-29
Date (Publication)
2023-07-06
Status
Completed
Metadata language

eng; CAN
Character set
utf8
Topic category
  • Environment
Maintenance and Update Frequency
Not planned
Principal investigator
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Science and Technology Branch / Water Science and Technology / Aquatic Contaminants Research Division - Andrée Gendron ( Senior research biologist )
105 McGill St. , Montreal , Quebec , H2Y 2E7 , Canada
Collaborator
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Science and Technology Branch / Water Science and Technology / Aquatic Contaminants Research Division - Dr. Émilie Lacaze ( Research Associate )
105 McGill St. , Montreal , Quebec , H2Y 2E7 , Canada
Collaborator
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Science and Technology Branch / Water Science and Technology / Aquatic Contaminants Research Division - Dr. Zofia Taranu ( Research scientist )
105 McGill St. , Montreal , Quebec , H2Y 2E7 , Canada
Collaborator
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Environmental Protection Branch / Environmental Protection Operations / QC Environmental Protection Operations / Expert Support & Compliance Promotion & Marine Programs / Expert Support & Compliance Promotion & Marine Programs - Rebecca Gouge ( Compliance Promotion Officer )
105 McGill St. , Montreal , Quebec , H2Y 2E7 , Canada
Collaborator
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Science and Technology Branch / Water Science and Technology / Aquatic Contaminants Research Division - Dr. Magali Houde ( Research scientist )
105 McGill St. , Montreal , Quebec , H2Y 2E7 , Canada
Collaborator
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Science and Technology Branch / Water Science and Technology / Aquatic Contaminants Research Division - Chantale André ( Biologist )
105 McGill St. , Montreal , Quebec , H2Y 2E7 , Canada
Collaborator
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Science and Technology Branch / Water Science and Technology / Aquatic Contaminants Research Division - Dr. François Gagné ( Research scientist )
105 McGill St. , Montreal , Quebec , H2Y 2E7 , Canada

Keywords

Theme

  • comet assay

  • DNA damage

  • agricultural practices

  • pesticides

  • freshwater mussel (Elliptio complanta)

  • water quality

  • aquatic ecosystems

  • St. Lawrence Action Plan (SLAP)

  • Living Labs Initiative
Place

  • Pot au Beurre River

  • Lake St. Pierre

Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus

  • Pesticides

  • Agriculture

  • Fresh water

Business Functions

  • Assess Toxicity, Manage and Monitor for Environmental Presence of Hazardous Substances and Waste

  • Assess Toxicity of Substance

Branch

  • Science and Technology Branch

Directorate

  • Water Science and Technology

Canada/US States and Provinces

  • Quebec

Environment Canada - Program

  • 1.2.1. Water Quality and Aquatic Ecosystems Health

GC Security Level

  • Unclassified
 
Use Limitation

Open Government Licence - Canada ( http://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada )

Access Constraints
License
Use Constraints
License
Begin Date
2018-07-31
End Date
2019-07-31

Extent

N
S
E
W
thumbnail


 
 

Ref. system Reference Systems

Reference system identifier
https://epsg.io / EPSG:4326 /
 

Distribution

Distribution Formats

Distribution format
  • CSV ( unknown )

 
Distributor
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada - Public inquiries centre
Gatineau , Quebec , K1A 0H3 , Canada
1-800-668-6767
 
 

Overviews

N
S
E
W
thumbnail


Keywords

DNA damage Lake St. Pierre Living Labs Initiative Pot au Beurre River St. Lawrence Action Plan (SLAP) agricultural practices aquatic ecosystems comet assay freshwater mussel (Elliptio complanta) pesticides water quality
Branch
Science and Technology Branch
Business Functions
Assess Toxicity of Substance Assess Toxicity, Manage and Monitor for Environmental Presence of Hazardous Substances and Waste
Canada/US States and Provinces
Quebec
Directorate
Water Science and Technology
Environment Canada - Program
1.2.1. Water Quality and Aquatic Ecosystems Health
GC Security Level
Unclassified
Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus
Agriculture Fresh water Pesticides

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