Untitled - CNR

Marine research at CNRwhere an X-rays beam facility was available.Appropriate anode currents and irradiationtimes were studied to obtain dosescomprised between 0.1 and 5 Gy, whichwere selected on the basis of X-rays rangesused on different cell types [29]. Dosedependenteffects were observed at morphologicaland molecular levels, includingdelay in the developmental scheduleas well as major abnormalities in specificembryonic territories (Figure 2) and variationsin the expression levels of stress, antiapoptoticand aging proteins (Bonaventuraet al., in preparation).4.3 Water quality tests and humanhealthSince year 2000 we are part of theworking group ”Biological methods”-”Saltwater/brackish water and sediments”of the UNICHIM ”Water Quality” Commission.Our laboratory is one of the9 in Italy performing intercalibrationtests for standardization of new protocolsand methodological procedures onsome biological assays (embryology test-Echinoderms). We contributed to the productionof a final document on batterytests to be normed by the Italian Ministerfor the Environment. The final goalis the development and validation of testmethods, as well as the promotion and enhancementof the water quality culture. Inthis contest, we participated in the CNR-PIAS project (Progetto InterdipartimentaleAmbiente e Salute), jointly launched bythe Earth & Environmental and MedicineDepartments, aimed at understanding ofthe links between pollution sources andtoxic effects on human health. Withinthe working groups GL2 (Monitoring systemsfor soil and water) and GL4 (HumanBiomonitoring), we proposed our biologicalmodels for basic studies on theeffects of heavy metals and/or nanoparticleson the endocrine, reproductive andimmune systems. Biomarkers of exposurewere proposed for the evaluation ofearly damage and the analysis of relationshipbetween epidemiological investigationsand “in vitro” - “in vivo” toxicologicalresearch.5 Sea urchin aquaculturetechnologySea urchin gonads are a luxury food productconsumed worldwide; their demand inthe European and international markets isgreatly increasing. Thus, the establishmentof a sea urchin aquaculture technology forcommercial exploitation is a topic of greatinterest. We have been recently involved inthe assessment of the best laboratory conditionsfor the development, growth andfarming of P. lividus sea urchins. Originallyacquired in the late nineties, we refinedour expertise on the occasion of a EUgranted project (POR Sicilia 2000/2006)carried out in Spring 2005. It is worthwhileto mention here that, as many Echinoderms,most sea urchins are characterisedby an indirect development which involvesthe transformation of a planktonic larva(pluteus) into a benthonic adult (juvenile),through a process called metamorphosis(Figures 1C-1E). In P. lividus this processoccurs in about 28-30 days: each developmentalstage has been already carefullyillustrated in an atlas by Matrangaand Bonaventura [30]. Thus, we developedappropriate protocols for the laboratorysmall-scale production, including seaurchin larval rearing, and the identifica-1975