TY - JOUR
T1 - A novel and versatile flash-freezing approach for evaluating the health of Delta Smelt
AU - Teh, Swee J.
AU - Baxa, Dolores V.
AU - Hammock, Bruce G.
AU - Gandhi, Saikrithika A.
AU - Kurobe, Tomofumi
PY - 2016/1/1
Y1 - 2016/1/1
N2 - A common approach used to assess environmental impacts in aquatic environments is to measure indicators of stress (biomarkers) and condition of fish within ecosystems. Particularly in estuarine ecosystems with multiple stressors, it is often desirable to quantify a suite of biological endpoints that (1) reflect fish condition at several levels of biological organization and time scales and (2) are sensitive to a range of environmental stressors. However, established methods of preservation and processing of fish for specific endpoints are often incompatible. Here, we developed a novel flash-freezing approach for assessing the health of a small, sensitive fish, the endangered Delta Smelt ( Hypomesus transpacificus) after collections from the San Francisco Estuary (SFE). We assess whether flash-freezing the entire fish ensures effective preservation of multiple tissues for subsequent biomarker analyses by comparing measurements of fresh to frozen tissue. Tissues included brain, gill, and liver for enzyme activity, kidney and spleen for pathogens, and gills, liver, and gonads for histopathology and reproduction. Although flash-freezing in liquid nitrogen altered the length, weight, and condition factor of Delta Smelt, the percent changes were small (
AB - A common approach used to assess environmental impacts in aquatic environments is to measure indicators of stress (biomarkers) and condition of fish within ecosystems. Particularly in estuarine ecosystems with multiple stressors, it is often desirable to quantify a suite of biological endpoints that (1) reflect fish condition at several levels of biological organization and time scales and (2) are sensitive to a range of environmental stressors. However, established methods of preservation and processing of fish for specific endpoints are often incompatible. Here, we developed a novel flash-freezing approach for assessing the health of a small, sensitive fish, the endangered Delta Smelt ( Hypomesus transpacificus) after collections from the San Francisco Estuary (SFE). We assess whether flash-freezing the entire fish ensures effective preservation of multiple tissues for subsequent biomarker analyses by comparing measurements of fresh to frozen tissue. Tissues included brain, gill, and liver for enzyme activity, kidney and spleen for pathogens, and gills, liver, and gonads for histopathology and reproduction. Although flash-freezing in liquid nitrogen altered the length, weight, and condition factor of Delta Smelt, the percent changes were small (
KW - Biomarker
KW - Delta Smelt
KW - Flash-freezing
KW - Necropsy
KW - San Francisco Estuary
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84949256017&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84949256017&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.aquatox.2015.11.009
DO - 10.1016/j.aquatox.2015.11.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 26655659
AN - SCOPUS:84949256017
VL - 170
SP - 152
EP - 161
JO - Aquatic Toxicology
JF - Aquatic Toxicology
SN - 0166-445X
ER -