Biosorption of metals by Solitary Ascidian, Phallusia Nigra in Vizhinjam Bay (South West Coast of India)

Keywords: Ascidian, biosorption, metals, Phallusia nigra, Vizhinjam Bay.

060-067 | JRAS | 2013 | Vol 2 | No 1

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Journal of Research in

Animal Sciences An International Scientific

Research Journal

Authors:

Abdul Jaffar Ali H1*,

Tamil Selvi M2 and

Bakavathiappan GA3 .

Institution:

1.Department of

Biotechnology, Islamiah

College, Vaniyambadi -

635752, Tamilnadu, India.

2. Department of Zoology,

V.V. Vanniyaperumal

College for women

Virudhunagar- 626001,

Tamilnadu, India.

3. Department of Zoology,

S.B.K. College,

Aruppukottai - 626101.

Corresponding author:

Abdul Jaffar Ali H.

Email:

Web Address: http://janimalsciences.com/documents/AS0022.pdf.

Dates: Received: 17 Oct 2013 Accepted: 24 Oct 2013 Published: 28 Oct 2013

Article Citation: Abdul Jaffar Ali H,Tamil Selvi M and Bakavathiappan GA Biosorption of metals by Solitary Ascidian, Phallusia Nigra in Vizhinjam Bay (South West Coast of India) Journal of Research in Animal Sciences (2013) 2(1): 060-067.

An International Scientific Research Journal

Original Research

Journal of Research in Animal Sciences

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ABSTRACT: Biosorption of heavy metals by ascidians has been recognized as a potential alternative to existing technique for recovery of heavy metals from waste stream. The solitary ascidian, Phallusia nigra, is a common and large black ascidian and occurs throughout the year in Vizhinjam Bay. Hence this study has been focused on the biosorption of metals in the test and mantle body of P. nigra from ecologically significant station, Vizhinjam Bay. Monthly samplings of water and specimens of P. nigra were done during the period from September 2010 to August 2011 and subjected to the analysis of metals. The concentration of metals in water were found in the following order Cd>Pb>V>Hg. Mean concentrations of metals were high during monsoon season and low during premonsoon season. Absorption of metals by P. nigra revealed that both test and mantle body accumulated a diverse range of trace metals. The present results showed that the content of metals in the test was usually less than that of the mantle body. High concentration of these metals was found to be during monsoon season whereas low concentration was during premonsoon season. The bioaccumulation factors were in the order of V>Pb>Cd> Hg for the test and mantle body of the study animal. Application of one way ANOVA for the concentration of these metals between test and mantle body showed significant differences. Metal concentrations recorded in this ascidian could effectively be used as good reference material for monitoring metal contamination in Indian sea waters.

INTRODUCTION

The entry of many trace metals from terrestrial

and atmospheric sources to the marine environment has

increased considerably in recent past. These metallic

species that are released tend to persist forever and

accumulating in living tissues through the food chain

posing serious problems. In this scenario, studies about

removal / recovery of heavy metals from marine

environment are need of the hour.

Though there are plenty of methods available,

these processes may be ineffective or expensive

(Volesky, 1990). Therefore, the research for new cost

effective technologies for the removal of heavy metals

from the environment has been directed towards

biosorption. Bioremediation has emerged in the last

decade as one of the most promising alternatives for the

control of metal pollution. The use biological organisms

to abate metal pollution have advantages over

conventional treatment methods due to low cost, high

efficiency, ecofriendly, regeneration of biosorbents and

possibility of metal recovery (Kratochvil and Volesky,

1998).

Studies on better understanding of metal

biosorption by certain potential biosorbents are available.

These biosorbents include some fungi, algae, bacteria,

yeast and agricultural waste. Recently, biosorption of

heavy metals by ascidians has been recognized as a

potential alternative to existing technique for recovery of

heavy metals from industrial waste stream.

Henze (1911) was the first to show that ascidians

are capable of accumulating vanadium in their bodies as

a complex organic molecule. Monniot et al., (1993)

found that phelobobranchs principally store the metals in

all their tissues and were the best indicators for metallic

and organo-metallic pollutions. Though significant

literatures are available for the distribution of various

heavy metals in Indian seas, use of ascidians as sentinel

organisms in biosorption of heavy metals has been little

investigated. Preliminary works on accumulation of

metals in ascidians have also been studied by Krishnan

(1992) and Abdul Jaffar Ali (2004).

The characteristics of sedentary ascidians to

accumulate metals in excess of the environment make

them the interesting research objects for testing and

modeling the marine ecosystem. Therefore, it is

imperative to understand the potential functions of

ascidians as a biological filter of the aquatic

environment. The solitary ascidian, Phallusia nigra, has

been a suitable candidate for biomonitoring studies

because of its sedentary lifestyle, abundance and

continuous breeding, easy identification and sampling.

This black ascidian is abundant in Vizhinjam Bay.

In view of their potential to entrap several toxic

heavy metals and lack of literature on the metals

composition of ascidians in general from Indian coast,

the present study was aimed at understanding the

availability of the biosorption of metal ions such as,

vanadium, cadmium, lead and mercury by solitary

ascidian, Phallusia nigra from Vizhinjam Bay (south

west coast).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

For the present investigation, ecologically

significant station, namely Vizhinjam situated along the

south west coast of India was chosen.

Study animal

Phallusia nigra Savigny, 1816, has been

recorded abundantly from the Indian waters eg.

Vizhinjam (South West coast). This common large

solitary ascidian is typically velvety black or dark brown

in colour. This animal breeds throughout the year.

Description of the study area

Vizhinjam Bay, located in the geographical

coordinates of Long 765615E Lat 82230N, is

situated 16 km south to Trivandrum city. This station and

the nearby coastal areas may be vulnerable to

contamination with human faecal matters and sewage but

less due to industrial effluents. Vizhinjam coast is

Ali et al., 2013

061 Journal of Research in Animal Sciences (2013) 2(1): 060-067

subjected to pronounced seasonal changes in climatic

regions with distinct seasons like Premonsoon (February

May), Monsoon Season (June September) and Post

Monsoon (October January). The bulk of rainfall in

this area is due to south west monsoon.

Trace metal analysis

The monthly water samples were collected from

September 2010 to August 2011 in the habitat of the

species chosen at the study area in pre-cleaned and acid

washed polypropylene bottles. After filtration in

Millipore filter paper (mesh size 0.45 ), the resulting

solutions were analysed for metal analysis.

Known specimens of the solitary ascidian,

Phallusia nigra were also collected monthly. They were

washed and dissected to separate test (body covering)

and mantle body (soft bodied part) for the analysis of

these metals. The dissected portions were dried in an

oven at 110C for twenty four hours. A known quantity

of each material was powdered and acid digested in a

mixture of nitric acid and perchloric acid (2:1 v/v)

(F.A.O. 1983). The residue was dissolved in 10 ml of 2

N Hydrochloric acid. Both the water and specimen

samples for vanadium, cadmium and lead were analysed

in GBC-Aventa (Ver 1.33) Atomic Absorption

Spectrophotometer. Mercury was analysed by cold

vapour technique using mercury analyzer (OPMEC

CECRI, Port Trust, Tuticorin).

Concentrations of metals in test and mantle body of

P. nigra were presented as means SD and subjected to

one way ANOVA for testing the significance of the

difference in the concentration between the test and

mantle body.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Metal level in sea water

Metals such as vanadium, cadmium, lead and

mercury occur in the seawater in different forms at

different concentrations. Annual mean concentrations of

metals in seawaters varied seasonally at Vizhinjam.

Seasonal variations in the concentration of metals in the

sea water from the study area are depicted in Figures 1.

In water, the average value of 0.0012 ppm was

found to be maximum during monsoon and minimum

during premonsoon. Mean cadmium level in sea water

was found to be 0.0016 ppm with maximum (0.003 ppm)

during monsoon. The concentration of lead was

maximum (0.003 ppm) during monsoon season and

minimum (0.001 ppm) during premonsoon season. Trace

level of lead was also observed during February and

March 2011. On an average, 0.9 ppb of mercury level

was recorded.

These results revealed the fact that the

concentrations of metals were high during monsoon and

minimum during premonsoon. This could be

Ali et al., 2013

Journal of Research in Animal Sciences (2013) 2(1): 060-067 062

Figures 1. Seasonal variations in the concentrations of metals in the sea water from Vizhinjam.

corroborated with the removal of a substantial portion of

these metals from water by phytoplankton and binding to

other suspended matters.

Biosorption by the solitary ascidian, P. nigra

The mean concentration of trace metals in

P. nigra from Vizhinjam is given in Table 1. Seasonal

variations in the accumulation of metals in the test and

mantle body of P. nigra are shown in the Figures 2-5.

Absorption of metals by P. nigra revealed that both test

and mantle body accumulated a diverse range of trace

metals. Their detection in ascidian indicates the

recalcitrant nature of these contaminants in the

environment. The present results showed that the content

of metals in the test was usually less than that of the

mantle body. It is generally opined that the metals are

concentrated in the body through food chain. Ascidian,

as a sedentary organism, filters a large volume of water

and feed large amount of deposit and plankton, which

accumulate heavy metals as suggested by Laws (1981),

who reported the high concentration metals in the

phytoplankton than in seawater. The concentration of

metals in zooplankton is substantially higher than the

phytoplankton concentration (Rejomon et al., 2008).

The concentration of Vanadium in the test and

the mantle body of P. nigra collected at the study area

ranged from 79.75 ppm to 92.05 ppm and 229.06 ppm to

335.23 ppm respectively (Fig 2). Maximum level of

concentration was observed during monsoon for both test

and mantle body whereas the minimum was during

March (test) and May, 2011 (mantle body)

(Premonsoon). Among the four metals, vanadium has

been found to highly elevated levels in the study animal

at both stations. Stephen et al., (2008) reasoned the high

level of vanadium in the ascidian blood to involvement

Ali et al., 2013

063 Journal of Research in Animal Sciences (2013) 2(1): 060-067

STATIONS Vanadium (ppm) Cadmium (ppm) Lead (ppm) Mercury (ppb)

Test Mantle body Test Mantle body Test Mantle body Test Mantle body

VIZHINJAM Mean 85.54 274.10 0.980 5.420 12.75 20.78 18.814 28.262

S.D 3.71 33.18 0.577 4.079 7.14 13.50 1.211 5.770

Table 1. Trace metal level in Phallusia nigra between two stations. Each value is the mean of

3 estimations with standard deviation (S.D).

Figures 2. Seasonal variations in the accumulation of vanadium in the test and mantle body of

Phallusia nigra at Vizhinjam Bay.

of tyrosine derived tunichrome tripeptides, a secondary

metabolite. The present result could be substantiated

with the result of Abdul Jaffar Ali (2004) who reported

the presence of tyrosine derived secondary metabolite in

P. nigra. Low level of vanadium was also reported in

Ciona intestinalis with 100 ppm (Goldberg et al., 1951)

and in Molgula mortenseni with 54 ppm (Carlisle, 1954).

Millar (1954) also pointed out that the members of the

families Ascidiidae and Perophoridae from the order

Phlebrobranchia and several species in the order of

Aplausobranchia were found to accumulate

comparatively large vanadium concentration.

Annual mean concentration of cadmium in the

test and the mantle was 0.98 and 5.42 ppm respectively.

Maximum level was found to occur during July, 2011

and September, 2010 in the test (1.49 ppm) and the

mantle body (11.34 ppm) respectively whereas the

minimum concentration was during March, 2011 for the

test (0.063 ppm) and May 2011 for the mantle body

(0.35 ppm) (Fig 3). The concentrations of Cd observed in

P. nigra are higher than the reported values for other

ascidians such as Botryllus schlosseri 2.7 ppm

(Leatherland and Burton, 1974) and Ascidiaceae sp 0.2

ppm (Eustace, 1974). Bindu et al., (2007) noticed mean

cadmium level of about 4.1, 2.09, 1.15 and 0.09 ppm in

clams collected at Palk Bay, Bay of Bengal,

Rameshwaram and Sethukarai situated along the Gulf of

Mannar respectively whereas, higher concentration was

observed by Rejomon et al., (2008) in zooplankton with

28.1, 25.7 and 22.6 ppm in Chennai, Kanniyakumari and

Cochin respectively.

Similar to the cadmium, lead was also more in

the mantle body with mean value of 20.78 ppm and as in

the case of cadmium, the minimum concentration (12.75

ppm) was observed in the test. Maximum level in the

test (3.49 ppm) and the mantle body (5.68 ppm) was

during monsoon; whereas the minimum level was during

May, 2011 for the test (4.59 ppm) and the mantle body

(0.32 ppm) respectively (Fig4). The mean concentration

of Pb was significantly higher as compared to other

simple ascidian Styela plicata with 35 ppm (Matida and

Kumada, 1969) while, in other filter feeder,

Crassostrea madrasensis inhabiting Ennore, very low

accumulation was observed by Joseph and Srivastava

(1993) with 5.2 ppm.

Mercury was accumulated in both the test and

mantle body. Maximum concentration of mercury in the

test (20.7 ppb) and the mantle body (34.77 ppb) was

Ali et al., 2013

Journal of Research in Animal Sciences (2013) 2(1): 060-067 064

Figures 3. Seasonal variations in the accumulation of cadmium in the test and mantle body of

Phallusia nigra at Vizhinjam Bay.

during September, 2010 (Monsoon), while the minimum

was during premonsoon for the test (16.7 ppb) and the

mantle body (19.77 ppb) respectively (Fig 5). ANOVA

for the concentration of these metals between test and

mantle body showed significant difference (P

biomonitoring approach is to use several species of

ascidians representing different trophic levels in

combination with chemical and hydrologic

measurements.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors are thankful to OPMEC-CECRI,

Harbour area, Tuticorin for Atomic Absorption

Spectroscopic analysis of the heavy metals. The first

author acknowledges L.M. Muneer Ahmed Sahib,

Secretary and Dr. K. Prem Nazeer, Principal, Islamiah

College, Vaniyambadi for their great enthusiasm and

wise advice.

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