Research Product

The objective of this project was the development of systems to assay the effects of chemical carcinogens on marine teleosts. It was determined that LC-50 for benzindine with respect to Cyprinodon variegatus was ca. 64 ppm. Weekly contaminations of 1 ppm benzidine caused some individuals to develop proliferative liver lesions. Exposure of C. variegatus early embryos produced the following anomalies at concentrations of 50 ppm and above: tubed heart syndrome with distended pericardia, poor circulation, sparse distribution of melanophores, inability to hatch, abnormal head morphology, scoliosis, and faint RBC pigmentation. Chronic exposure of a cell line from Archosargus probatocephalus to benzidine and benzo(a)pyrene produced mutagenic effects. Two novel techniques were developed to study the effects of carcinogens on C. variegatus at the cellular level -- an aseptic embryo technique and an embryo-primary cell culture technique. Standard immunological techniques were miniaturized to study the immune system of C. variegatus. Serum electrophoresis disclosed that the serum proteins of benezidine-exposed fish differed from unexposed controls.