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The Black-headed Gull's Adaptation to Polluted Environments: The Role of the Mixed-function Oxidase Detoxication System

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Cristina Fossi ,
Claudio Leonzio ,
Silvano Focardi  and
Aristeo Renzoni
Cristina Fossi
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università di Siena, Via delle Cerchia 3, 53100 Siena, Italy.
Claudio Leonzio
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università di Siena, Via delle Cerchia 3, 53100 Siena, Italy.
Silvano Focardi
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università di Siena, Via delle Cerchia 3, 53100 Siena, Italy.
Aristeo Renzoni
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università di Siena, Via delle Cerchia 3, 53100 Siena, Italy.
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Extract

This study was conducted to explore the role of the mixed-function oxidase (MFO) detoxication system in the ‘adaptation’ process of gulls to polluted environments. In two different populations of Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus), feeding in one case in a lagoon and in the other on an inland rubbish-dump, MFO hepatic activities (aldrin epoxidase, 7-ethoxyresorufin o-deethylase, NADPH-cytochrome c reductase, NADH-cytochrome c reductase, and NADH-ferrycianide reductase) and chlorinated hydrocarbon residues were determined. All the enzymatic activities detected, and the PCB residues, were higher in the Gulls feeding on the inland dump than in the gulls feeding in the lagoon.

The results obtained suggest that the development of a strong detoxication system constitutes an important ‘survival mechanism’ for these birds when feeding customarily in polluted environments.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , Autumn 1988 , pp. 221 - 224
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1988

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