A comparative study of the oxidative system in Chironomidae larvae with contrasting feeding strategies

Figures & data

Figure 1. Study area.

Table I. Physico-chemical parameters for the sampling site. SI - inorganic substrate index, pH – acidity. SD- standard deviation.

River parameters	mean	± SD
width (m)	0.90	± 0.100
depth (m)	0.067	± 0.003
currel velocity (m s^−1)	0.27	± 0.075
SI (mm)	2.37	± 0.741
temperature (°C)	2.97	± 0.567
Dissolved oxygen (mg dm^−3)	6.19	± 0.384
BFPOM (g m^−2)	6164	± 271
BCPOM (g m^−2)	2171	± 77
pH	6.43	± 0.457
Conductivity (μS cm^−^1)	323	± 6.658

Figure 2. Catalase (CAT) activity and level of reduced glutathione (GSH), lipid peroxidation (LPO) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in the four studied chironomid species.

Figure 3. Activity of glutathione S-transferase (GST) in the four studied chironomid species.

Table II. Differences (ANOVA) between taxa studied for parameters examined; df (3,32) Post hoc differences: 1 – Chironomus riparius, 2 – Prodiamesa olivacea, 3 – Paratanytarsus sp. 4 – Conchapelopia melanops df – number of degrees of freedom CAT – activity of catalase GSH – the level of reduced glutathione GST – activity of glutathione S-transferase MDA – level of malondialdehyde TAC – total antioxidant capacity.

ANOVA	df	F	p	Differences between taxa (post hoc)
CAT	(3,32)	5.644	0.0032	2–1, 4
GSH	(3,32)	4.866	0.0067	2–1, 4
GST	(3,32)	35.677	0.0001	2–1, 3, 4
MDA	(3,32)	3.176	0.0373	1–2
TAC	(3,32)	38.381	0.0001	4–1, 2, 3

Post hoc differences: 1 – Chironomus riparius, 2 – Prodiamesa olivacea, 3 – Paratanytarsus sp. 4 – Conchapelopia melanops.df – number of degrees of freedom.

Table III. Pearson correlaton coefficients between selected chironomidae taxa and investigated parameters. C. rip. – Chironomus riparius, P. oli. – Prodiamesa olivacea, Para. – Paratanytarsus sp., C. mel. – Conchapelopia melanops CAT – activity of catalase GSH – the level of reduced glutathione GST – activity of glutathione S-transferase MDA – level of malondialdehyde TAC – total antioxidant capacity.

Parameters		GSH		GST		MDA		TAC
		r	p	r	p	r	p	r	p
CAT	C. rip.	0.591	0.094	−0.171	0.660	−0.489	0.181	−0.279	0.467
	P. oli.	−0.237	0.540	0.260	0.499	−0.455	0.219	0.511	0.160
	Para.	−0.004	0.992	0.428	0.250	−0.415	0.267	0.522	0.149
	C. mel.	0.437	0.239	0.265	0.490	0.287	0.454	−0.737	0.024
		GSH	C. rip.	−0.454	0.220	−0.557	0.119	0.214	0.580
			P. oli.	0.612	0.080	0.262	0.495	−0.897	0.001
			Para.	−0.131	0.737	0.400	0.286	−0.707	0.033
			C. mel.	−0.274	0.476	0.541	0.133	−0.461	0.212
				GST	C. rip.	0.840	0.005	−0.052	0.895
					P. oli.	−0.050	0.899	−0.379	0.315
					Para.	−0.749	0.020	0.264	0.493
					C. mel.	−0.345	0.363	−0.565	0.113
						TBARS	C. rip.	0.212	0.585
							P. oli.	−0.460	0.213
							Para.	−0.544	0.130
							C. mel.	0.051	0.896

C. rip. – Chironomus riparius; P. oli. – Prodiamesa olivacea; Para. – Paratanytarsus sp.; C. mel. – Conchapelopia melanops.