Journal des techniques analytiques et bioanalytiques

Abstrait

Elemental Composition of Drulia browni Collected in Negro River (Amazonas, Brazil)

Iuri Bezerra de Barros, Cecília Volkmer-Ribeiro, Cláudia Cândida Silva and Valdir Florêncio da Veiga Junior

Sponges, comprising not only organic chemical composition, but also the metals that they filter and accumulate, are aquatic animals that constitute one of the main hotspots in the search for new drugs, being the subject of many studies. The inorganic accumulation pattern from these sponges could be used for several purposes, from bioremediation to chemo-taxonomic characterization. In the present study, the X-ray fluorescence inorganic analysis of D. browni, one of the most common species of freshwater sponge in the Negro River, was performed in order to approach its chemical composition. Silicon, aluminium and calcium are the most abundant elements in this species. In addition, the presence of S, Cl, K, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn and Sr were also detected. Aluminium associated with Ca, K and S is a characteristic chemical profile that can be used as a bio-marker of this genus.