11:30 AM - 11:45 AM
[MZZ51-10] Establishment of bioresources for evaluation of environmental pollutants in the green sea turtle
Keywords:culture cell, green sea turtle, environmental pollutant
The wildlife is one of the keystone species of the ecosystem since they are apex predators. Therefore, to maintain biodiversity, it is important to avoid reduction of the number of species. As a critical factor of biodiversity loss, environmental pollutants are a well-known among conservation biologists. A variety of environmental pollutants can be listed, in Japan, rodenticides are among of the major ones. Rodenticides are useful for eradicating rodents, while their effects on non-target species require additional investigation.
To evaluate the effects of rodenticides on wildlife, it would be ideal to carry out biological experiments on wildlife; however, this is quite difficult in comparison to working with experimental animals. Therefore, alternative methods are required. As an alternative method, we focused on culture cells. Culture cells mimic the physiological responses of living organisms in many aspects, so they are useful alternatives for biological experiments on wildlife. We considered that the sensitivity of wildlife to environmental pollutants might be evaluated by using culture cells of wildlife.
This study focused on the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas). The first reason for considering this species is that the green sea turtle is categorized as endangered (EN) according to International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) red list; therefore, we need to address the conservation of the turtle. The second reason is that Ogasawara Islands are famous as green sea turtle’s habitat, while those areas are one area where rodenticides have been broadly applied for rat eradication. Based on these reasons, we attempted to establish culture cells from green sea turtles due to evaluate the effects of rodenticides.
This study attempted to obtain cultured cells from tissues derived from dead green sea turtles. First, we examined the basic culture medium. As result of a comparison of three typical mammalian basic media (DMEM, DMEM/F12, RPMI1640), RPMI1640 showed the most active cell growth. Next, we examined the temperature of the cell culture. In this study, we examined three temperatures: 30°C (the lower limit of stable culture temperature in a heated CO2 incubator), 37°C (the culture temperature of general mammalian cells), and 33°C (an intermediate temperature). As a result, the temperature of 30°C showed the most active cell proliferation and the highest live cell ratio. This study obtained culture cells from green sea turtles and explored the culture conditions. As an additional approach, we would like to establish immortalized cells by gene transfer since cultured cells are difficult to maintain in long-term culture due to the phenomenon of cellular senescence. Furthermore, we would like to use the established cells to evaluate the sensitivity to environmental pollutants through gene expression analysis, cell death analysis, and metabolic marker analysis.
To evaluate the effects of rodenticides on wildlife, it would be ideal to carry out biological experiments on wildlife; however, this is quite difficult in comparison to working with experimental animals. Therefore, alternative methods are required. As an alternative method, we focused on culture cells. Culture cells mimic the physiological responses of living organisms in many aspects, so they are useful alternatives for biological experiments on wildlife. We considered that the sensitivity of wildlife to environmental pollutants might be evaluated by using culture cells of wildlife.
This study focused on the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas). The first reason for considering this species is that the green sea turtle is categorized as endangered (EN) according to International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) red list; therefore, we need to address the conservation of the turtle. The second reason is that Ogasawara Islands are famous as green sea turtle’s habitat, while those areas are one area where rodenticides have been broadly applied for rat eradication. Based on these reasons, we attempted to establish culture cells from green sea turtles due to evaluate the effects of rodenticides.
This study attempted to obtain cultured cells from tissues derived from dead green sea turtles. First, we examined the basic culture medium. As result of a comparison of three typical mammalian basic media (DMEM, DMEM/F12, RPMI1640), RPMI1640 showed the most active cell growth. Next, we examined the temperature of the cell culture. In this study, we examined three temperatures: 30°C (the lower limit of stable culture temperature in a heated CO2 incubator), 37°C (the culture temperature of general mammalian cells), and 33°C (an intermediate temperature). As a result, the temperature of 30°C showed the most active cell proliferation and the highest live cell ratio. This study obtained culture cells from green sea turtles and explored the culture conditions. As an additional approach, we would like to establish immortalized cells by gene transfer since cultured cells are difficult to maintain in long-term culture due to the phenomenon of cellular senescence. Furthermore, we would like to use the established cells to evaluate the sensitivity to environmental pollutants through gene expression analysis, cell death analysis, and metabolic marker analysis.