Evaluation of the Effects of Electrical Stimulation: A Pilot Experiment on the Marine Benthic Foraminiferal Species Amphistegina lessonii
Author:
Rebecchi Federica1ORCID, Lattanzi Davide2ORCID, Abramovich Sigal3, Ambrogini Patrizia2ORCID, Ciacci Caterina2ORCID, Betti Michele2, Frontalini Fabrizio1ORCID
Affiliation:
1. Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, Urbino University, 61029 Urbino, Italy 2. Department of Biomolecular Science, Urbino University, 61029 Urbino, Italy 3. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel
Abstract
Environmental disturbances resulting from anthropogenic energy pollution are intensely growing and represent a concern for the marine environment. Benthic organisms are the significant fauna exposed to this kind of pollution; among them, foraminifera are largely used as pollution bioindicators in marine environments, but studies on the effects induced by electrical stimulation are not documented. In the present research, we evaluated the effects of short-term different electric current densities on the viability of benthic foraminiferal species Amphistegina lessonii by checking the pseudopodial activity and defined the threshold electrical density range. After 3 days of treatment, A. lessonii stimulated with a constant current showed pseudopodial activity at a lower electric current density (0.29, 0.86 μA/cm2) up to 24 h. With increasing stimulation time, the percentages of pseudopodial activity decreased. The pseudopodial activity was absent at high current densities (5.71, 8.57 μA/cm2). The viability of A. lessonii exposed to a pulsed current was higher at a low and middle electric current density (from 0.29 to 5.71 μA/cm2) than at a high electric current density (from 11.43 to 20 μA/cm2). Based on these preliminary results, the selected benthic foraminiferal species seems to better stand pulsed currents than constant ones. These first experiments might provide useful information for the definition of the appropriate electrical density threshold to avoid side effects on a part of the benthic community.
Subject
Paleontology,Space and Planetary Science,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
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