Fluorescence Microscopy and Molecular Biology Methods as Tools for Assessing the Toxic Effects of Heavy Metals on Sea Urchin Development

Paracentrotus lividus is the dominant sea urchin in the Mediterranean Sea, influencing the dynamics of coastal water ecosystems. It has been considered a good model system to study the response of marine organisms to environmental stress. Indeed, their eggs, embryos and larvae transparency, as well as their sensitivity to pollutants, made this organism particularly suitable for embryotoxicity tests and for monitoring or risk assessment programs.A number of inorganic compounds, especially heavy metals, were tested for their adverse effects on sea urchin development, fertilization success, as well as other effects as induction of apoptosis, calcification defects, DNA damage and/or increasing production of reactive oxygen species (ROS).In this work, examples of microscopy techniques and molecular approaches used to assess the effects of heavy metals on the sea urchin development are presented.