Biol Lett. 2010 Oct 23;6(5):692-5. Epub 2010 Apr 21.

DNA barcodes reveal species-specific mercury levels in tuna sushi that pose a health risk to consumers.

Lowenstein JH, Burger J, Jeitner CW, Amato G, Kolokotronis SO, Gochfeld M.

Source

Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA. jlowenstein@amnh.org

Abstract

Excessive ingestion of mercury--a health hazard associated with consuming predatory fishes--damages neurological, sensory-motor and cardiovascular functioning. The mercury levels found in Bigeye Tuna (Thunnus obesus) and bluefin tuna species (Thunnus maccoyii, Thunnus orientalis, and Thunnus thynnus), exceed or approach levels permissible by Canada, the European Union, Japan, the US, and the World Health Organization. We used DNA barcodes to identify tuna sushi samples analysed for mercury and demonstrate that the ability to identify cryptic samples in the market place allows regulatory agencies to more accurately measure the risk faced by fish consumers and enact policies that better safeguard their health.

PMID:: 20410032; [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
PMCID:: PMC2936149

Free PMC Article

Images from this publication.See all images (1) Free text

Publication Types, MeSH Terms, Substances, Grant Support

Publication Types

MeSH Terms

Substances

Mercury

Grant Support

P30ES005022/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/United States

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Other Literature Sources

Medical

Mercury - MedlinePlus Health Information

Molecular Biology Databases

MERCURY, ELEMENTAL - HSDB

Supplemental Content

Save items

Related citations in PubMed

The real maccoyii: identifying tuna sushi with DNA barcodes--contrasting characteristic attributes and genetic distances. [PLoS One. 2009]
The real maccoyii: identifying tuna sushi with DNA barcodes--contrasting characteristic attributes and genetic distances.
Lowenstein JH, Amato G, Kolokotronis SO. PLoS One. 2009 Nov 18; 4(11):e7866. Epub 2009 Nov 18.
Trial for quality control in mercury contents by using tail muscle of full-cycle cultured bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis). [J Food Prot. 2008]
Trial for quality control in mercury contents by using tail muscle of full-cycle cultured bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis).
Ando M, Seoka M, Nakatani M, Tsujisawa T, Katayama Y, Nakao M, Tsukamasa Y, Kawasaki K. J Food Prot. 2008 Mar; 71(3):595-601.
Total mercury levels in muscle tissue of swordfish (Xiphias gladius) and bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) from the Mediterranean Sea (Italy). [J Food Prot. 2001]
Total mercury levels in muscle tissue of swordfish (Xiphias gladius) and bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) from the Mediterranean Sea (Italy).
Storelli MM, Marcotrigiano GO. J Food Prot. 2001 Jul; 64(7):1058-61.
Mercury in fish available in supermarkets in Illinois: are there regional differences. [Sci Total Environ. 2006]
Mercury in fish available in supermarkets in Illinois: are there regional differences.
Burger J, Gochfeld M. Sci Total Environ. 2006 Aug 31; 367(2-3):1010-6. Epub 2006 Jul 3.
Phylogenetic relationships between tuna species of the genus Thunnus (Scombridae: Teleostei): inconsistent implications from morphology, nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. [J Mol Evol. 1995]
Phylogenetic relationships between tuna species of the genus Thunnus (Scombridae: Teleostei): inconsistent implications from morphology, nuclear and mitochondrial genomes.
Chow S, Kishino H. J Mol Evol. 1995 Dec; 41(6):741-8.

See reviews... See all...

Cited by 2 PubMed Central articles

Barcoding and border biosecurity: identifying cyprinid fishes in the aquarium trade. [PLoS One. 2012]
Barcoding and border biosecurity: identifying cyprinid fishes in the aquarium trade.
Collins RA, Armstrong KF, Meier R, Yi Y, Brown SD, Cruickshank RH, Keeling S, Johnston C. PLoS One. 2012; 7(1):e28381. Epub 2012 Jan 20.
DNA barcoding of catfish: species authentication and phylogenetic assessment. [PLoS One. 2011]
DNA barcoding of catfish: species authentication and phylogenetic assessment.
Wong LL, Peatman E, Lu J, Kucuktas H, He S, Zhou C, Na-nakorn U, Liu Z. PLoS One. 2011 Mar 15; 6(3):e17812. Epub 2011 Mar 15.

Related information

Related Citations
Calculated set of PubMed citations closely related to the selected article(s) retrieved using a word weight algorithm. Related articles are displayed in ranked order from most to least relevant, with the “linked from” citation displayed first.
Compound (MeSH Keyword)
PubChem chemical compound records that are classified under the same Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) controlled vocabulary as the current articles.
Nucleotide
Primary database (GenBank) nucleotide records reported in the current articles as well as Reference Sequences (RefSeqs) that include the articles as references.
References for this PMC Article
Citation referenced in PubMed article. Only valid for PubMed citations that are also in PMC.
Substance (MeSH Keyword)
PubChem chemical substance (submitted) records that are classified under the same Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) controlled vocabulary as the current articles.
Taxonomy via GenBank
Taxonomy records associated with the current articles through taxonomic information on related molecular database records (Nucleotide, Protein, Gene, SNP, Structure).
Protein
Protein translation features of primary database (GenBank) nucleotide records reported in the current articles as well as Reference Sequences (RefSeqs) that include the articles as references.
PopSet
Sets of sequences from population and evolutionary genetic studies in the PopSet database reported in the current articles.
Free in PMC
Free full text articles in PMC
Cited in PMC
Full-text articles in the PubMed Central Database that cite the current articles.

Recent activity

Clear Turn Off Turn On

DNA barcodes reveal species-specific mercury levels in tuna sushi that pose a he...
DNA barcodes reveal species-specific mercury levels in tuna sushi that pose a health risk to consumers.
Biol Lett. 2010 Oct 23 ;6(5):692-5. Epub 2010 Apr 21 .

PubMed
Adolescent suicide and health risk behaviors: Rhode Island's 2007 Youth Risk Beh...
Adolescent suicide and health risk behaviors: Rhode Island's 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
Am J Prev Med. 2010 May ;38(5):551-5.

PubMed
Geographic disparity, area poverty, and human papillomavirus vaccination.
Geographic disparity, area poverty, and human papillomavirus vaccination.
Am J Prev Med. 2010 May ;38(5):525-33.

PubMed
Assessment of cell line models of primary human cells by Raman spectral phenotyp...
Assessment of cell line models of primary human cells by Raman spectral phenotyping.
Biophys J. 2010 Apr 21 ;98(8):1703-11.

PubMed
Emerging viral diseases of fish and shrimp.
Emerging viral diseases of fish and shrimp.
Vet Res. 2010 Nov-Dec ;41(6):51. Epub 2010 Apr 23 .

PubMed

Your browsing activity is empty.

Activity recording is turned off.

Turn recording back on

PubMed

Result Filters

Display Settings:

Send to: