Species of the families Mytilidae (sea mussels) and Unionidae (fresh water mussels) contain two types of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), the F that behaves as the standard animal mtDNA and the M that is transmitted through the sperm and establishes itself only in the male gonad. The two molecules have, therefore, separate transmission routes, one through the female and the other through the male lin...

Concentrations of fecal bacteria, somatic and F-specific coliphages, and phages infecting Bacteroides fragilis in naturally occurring black mussels (Mytilus edulis) were determined. Mussels were collected over a 7-month period at four sampling sites with different levels of fecal pollution. Concentrations of both fecal bacteria and bacteriophages in mussel meat paralleled the concentration of f...

Azaspiracids are a class of recently discovered algae-derived shellfish toxins. Their distribution globally is on the increase with mussels being most widely implicated in azaspiracid-related food poisoning events. Evidence that these toxins were bound to proteins in contaminated mussels has been shown recently. In the present study characterization of these proteins in blue mussels, Mytilus ed...

We used neutral red retention assay in lysosomes of digestive gland cells as an indicator for stress effects by the environmental contaminants Cu, Cd, and the pesticide methoxychlor in two freshwater molluscs, the unionid mussel, Elliptio complanata (Lightfoot) and the ramshorn snail Helisoma trivolvis (Say). Mussels and snails were exposed for 7 and 14 days to Cu and Cd each at nominal concent...

To elucidate the determinants of intertidal invertebrate body temperatures during aerial exposure, I developed deterministic models using the environmental inputs of solar radiation, air temperature, ground temperature, and wind speed to predict the body temperatures of intertidal mussels (Mytilus spp.). Combined with field studies, these models were used to determine the effects of body size o...

Freshwater mussels are an imperiled fauna exposed to a variety of environmental toxicants such as lead (Pb) and studies are urgently needed to assess their health and condition to guide conservation efforts. A 28-day laboratory toxicity test with Pb and adult Eastern elliptio mussels (Elliptio complanata) was conducted to determine uptake kinetics and to assess the toxicological effects of Pb e...

The fate of viruses and pathogens discharged into the ocean in municipal effluent is not known for certain. They probably become inactivated in the same manner that coliform bacteria are—through sedimentation, predation by marine bacteria and filter-feeders, damage by ultraviolet light or abrupt changes from reducing to oxidizing environment, or because of some antiviral agent present in the se...

Sir, The ingestion of crustacea and mollusca is one of the most frequent causes of food allergy (1). The mollusca phylum includes lamellibranchia (bivalves) and involves the following orders: mytiloida (familia mytilidae: mussels); ostreoida (familia ostreidae: oysters) and veneroida (familia veneridae: clams) (2). Herein we report a study of 11 cases of IgE-mediated urticaria/angioedema caused...

Outbreaks of norovirus (NoV) gastroenteritis are often associated with the consumption of contaminated bivalves such as oysters, clams, and mussels. Crassostrea virginica oysters trap the Norwalk virus through the intestinal type A-like histo-blood group antigen (HBGA), a possible mechanism of bioaccumulation responsible for NoV outbreaks. In this study, we tested binding and inhibition of bind...

The paramyxean parasite Marteilia refringens infects several bivalve species including European flat oysters Ostrea edulis and Mediterranean mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis. Sequence polymorphism allowed definition of three parasite types 'M', 'O' and 'C' preferably detected in oysters, mussels and cockles respectively. Transmission of the infection from infected bivalves to copepods Paracart...