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Environmental Genomics

Environmental health

Big worm, little worm - reporting soil quality

Worms, the 'ecological engineers' praised so highly by Charles Darwin, could be reliable reporters of the quality of the soils in which they live.

The Environmental Genomics programme focused on a widely distributed species of earth worm capable of living in pristine soils as well as in polluted brown-field and industrial soils. The team examined the earthworm genome when exposed to an agrochemical (atrazine), a heavy metal (cadmium) and a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH; fluoranthene).

Scientists have sequenced and annotated all the genes for the tiny roundworm (Caenorhabditis.elegans) and generated data on how this species responds on a genetic level to specific pollutants. They have also done this for around 17,000 genes of the much larger earthworm. The earthworm's genetic fingerprint was compared to the molecular genetic responses recorded in the roundworm (C. elegans) which was exposed to the same toxic compounds in the laboratory. By integrating the response patterns for both species, the team was able to gain a better understanding of the activities of different gene pathways during exposure to toxins.

The researchers complemented this genetic data with studies on the protein composition of both organisms to provide an insight into exactly how these worms respond to chemical exposure.

The programme team has assembled all this information, together with genetic data on other key terrestrial and marine annelid worms, in a public-access database called LumbriBASE.

Glow worms

The team also used genetic manipulation to produce a strain of roundworm that bio-fluoresces (lights up) when exposed to pollutants, specifically heavy metals such as cadmium. These fluorescent worms can be used to assess the extent to which soils contain metal pollutants.