Biochemical Responses of the Bivalve Mollusk Unio tumidus Inhabiting a Small Power Plant Reservoir on the Dniester River Basin, Ukraine

Hydropower plants (HPPs) can affect the hydrological regime. However, biochemical responses of aquatic animals for the evaluation of this disturbing are not applied yet. The specimens of Unio tumidus were sampled in a reservoir (R) of a small HPP as well as downstream from the dam (DS). Biochemical indexes in the digestive gland and alkali labile phosphates (ALP) in the gonads were examined. The R-mollusks showed low cholinesterase, catalase and caspase-3 activities, and metallothionein concentration, but elevated levels of zinc and copper, oxidized glutathione and protein carbonyls. Concentrations of lactate, pyruvate and ALP, activity of superoxide dismutase and glutathione S -transferase, and lipid peroxidation level were similar in both groups. Integrated biomarker response (IBR/n) index (n = 13) was 2.17 and 0.29 in the R- and DS-groups correspondingly. We suggest that using integrative biological response based on the biochemical markers of bivalve mollusks can be a valid early warning step in assessing ‘environmental flow’ impact.