Cell-free benzo[a]pyrene hydroxylase activity in marine zooplankton

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Abstract
There is now considerable evidence that benzo[a]pyrene hydroxylase (aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase: AHH) is involved in the metabolism of petroleum hydrocarbons by several species of marine fish (see review by Varanasi & Malins, 1977), as well as by certain species of marine invertebrates, including crabs and lobsters (Payne, 1977). Several workers (Payne & Penrose, 1975; Payne, 1976, 1977; Bend, James & Dansette, 1977) have found increased activities of this enzyme in fish previously exposed to petroleum hydrocarbons and related compounds: similar findings have been made in a study using two species of polychaete (Lee, Furlong & Singer, 1977 a). No evidence of such enhanced activity, however, has been found in experiments with crabs and lobsters (Payne, 1977).