Tona Sanchez-Palacios

Over eight million hectares of land in south-west Western Australia required applications of micronutrients, particularly copper, zinc and molybdenum, in order to grow profitable crops and pastures when first cleared for agricultural production. Initial fertiliser applications, particularly of copper and zinc, had very long residual effectiveness – research showed that the once-off application of copper continued to correct crop deficiencies for over 30 years.

Arsenic in marine environment is ubiquitous, yet it can be toxic to living organisms. Arsenic enters the marine food chain through algae. Algae convert the accumulated inorganic containing As molecules into methylated forms and more complex molecules such as carbohydrates (i.e. arsenoribosides), fatty acids and other organic species. Arsenoribosides can make up 70% of the total accumulated As in algae. When transferred to herbivorous fish such as members of the family Kyphosidae, arsenoribosides can be converted into less toxic forms such as thio-, glycerol-, phosphate- and methylated-arsenoribosides or substantially converted into arsenobetaine. Much remains to be understood however regarding the transfer and metabolism of arsenoribosides in marine organisms. In this study, we proposed to conduct As-speciation analyses in the intestine system of Kyphosus spp., exposed to As-containing seaweed. Extraction and separation analytical techniques for As-speciation such as HPLC-HG-AFS, HPLC-ICPMS and LC-MS-MS will be employed for As containing metabolites determination. It is hypothesised that changes in proportion of As metabolites will be observed along the intestine of Kyphosus spp.