Carbonic Anhydrase as a Biomarker of Global and Local Impacts: Insights from Calcifying Animals

Abstract

The emission of greenhouse gases has grown in unprecedented levels since the beginning of the industrial era. As a result, global climate changes, such as heightened global temperature and ocean acidification, are expected to negatively impact populations. Similarly, industrial and urban unsustainable development are also expected to impose local impacts of their own, such as environmental pollution with organic and inorganic chemicals. As an answer, biomarkers can be used in environmental programs to assess these impacts. These tools are based in the quantification of biochemical and cellular responses of target species that are known to respond in a sensitive and specific way to such stresses. In this context, carbonic anhydrase has shown to be a promising biomarker candidate for the assessment of global and local impacts in biomonitoring programs, especially in marine zones, such as coral reefs, considering the pivotal role of this enzyme in the calcification process. Therefore, the aim of this review is to show the recent advances in the carbonic anhydrase research and the reasons why it can be considered as a promising biomarker to be used for calcifying organisms.

Keywords: Contaminant; acidification; bioindicator; calcification; ecotoxicology; environmental assessment; pollution; temperature; warming.

Figure 1

Schematic representation of the calcification process in scleractinian corals. Adapted from Zilberberg et al. (2016) [39].