Expanding industrial activities in the Arctic require an urgent assessment of the @entity137 of chemicals at low temperatures. Organisms acclimatized to low temperature exhibit specific adaptations. For example, the amount of unsaturated lipids is increased to maintain the fluidity of the cell membranes. It has been hypothesized that such temperature-induced alterations in membrane lipid composition may affect the stability of lysosomal and cell membranes in the common mussel, @entity13367 , an organism exposed to seasonal temperature extremes. As mussels may be exposed to petroleum compounds along industrialized coastlines, we tested the combined effects of exposure to low temperature and the petroleum compound, @entity11966 , on haemocyte membrane stability. Test animals, acclimated to either 0 or 10 degrees C, were exposed to @entity11966 (0 = control or 500 micrograms l-1) and haemocytes were examined using the neutral red retention assay (lysosomal stability) and a fluorescence assay (cell membrane stability). At 0 degree C, lysosomal and cell membranes from uncontaminated mussels were destabilized compared with 10 degrees C (P = 0.0005). No significant effects (P > 0.05) of @entity11966 were detected at either temperature. Possible mechanisms underlying membrane destabilization include a weaker physical resistance of the membrane due to a higher amount of unsaturated lipids, a potentially higher level of reactive @entity26 radicals at low temperature and the higher susceptibility of unsaturated lipids to oxidative stress. More work is required to better understand the consequences of this membrane destabilization at low temperature on the susceptibility of the organism to pollutants.

Stability of lysosomal and cell membranes in haemocytes of the common mussel ( XXXX ): effect of low temperatures.

@entity13367 :: ('6550', 'Species') :: ['Mytilus edulis'] @entity26 :: ('MESH:D010100', 'Chemical') :: ['oxygen'] @entity137 :: ('MESH:D064420', 'Disease') :: ['toxicity'] @entity11966 :: ('MESH:C031181', 'Chemical') :: ['phenanthrene']
@entity13367 :: (6550,Species) :: ['Mytilus edulis']
