Field survey of p53-gene sequence variations in Mytilus trossulus and assessment of other potential p53-gene isoforms

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Canadian governments and municipalities are concerned about potentially harmful effects on the marine ecosystem caused by human activities. For example, in the lower mainland Metro Vancouver region, municipal wastewater is discharged, after treatment, at various locations along the coast. To help in addressing whether there are any changes in the health of ecosystems near to these effluent discharges, we are participating in an effort to test the use of mussels as sentinel species in so-called environmental effects monitoring (EEM) programs. In these programs, besides the basic physiological parameters such as size and reproductive development, the prevalence and intensity of various diseases are measured. For example, the local Pacific North West Coast Bay Mussel, M. trossulus, is susceptible to a leukemia-like disease called haemic neoplasia (HN), which has some similarities to a human cancer, Burkitts lymphoma. Breakouts of this disease have been known to wipe out entire populations. Therefore it is important to monitor incidences of HN regularly and we are involved in devising novel ways of doing this, while at the same time learning about some of the mechanisms of the disease. To enhance the ability of EEM programs to predict potential deleterious effects early, before irreversible ecosystem changes occur, we are specifically investigating the use of genes as biomarkers of HN. Our focus is on the tumour-suppressor p53-like genes since we have found associations between HN and expression of sequence variations of these genes. Therefore we propose that by monitoring these genes we may be able to predict HN outbreaks in mussel populations. Thus, the purpose of our current work is to test this hypothesis by monitoring p53 genes and HN in mussel populations on two beaches located in the Metro Vancouver area to see if there are any common trends between the gene sequences and the disease.