Metallothionein as a biomarker of environmental metal exposure: Species-dependent effects

Conference · Thu Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1988 · Preprints of Papers Presented at National Meeting, Division of Water, Air and Waste Chemistry, American Chemical Society; (USA)

OSTI ID:7266186

Benson, W H; Watson, C F ^[1]; Baer, K N ^[2]

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1. Northeast Louisiana Univ., Monroe (USA)
2. Univ. of Texas Marine Institute, Port Aransas (USA)

Because of the paucity of data concerning the induction of MT following stress in teleosts, the present investigation focused on the influence of cadmium and environmental stressors (cold, hypoxia) on MT induction in bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus. Following cadmium exposure (10 ug/L, 48 hr), significant increases in the Cd content of the MT-like fraction in both teleost gill (85{plus minus} 11 nmol {times} 10{sup {minus}2}) and liver (38 {plus minus} 3 nmol {times} 10{sup {minus}2}) were observed as compared to control gill and liver. Exposure to environmental stressors, such as cold and hypoxia had profound effects on the Zn and Cu content of metal-binding proteins in the gill. Following cold and hypoxic stress, Zn content significantly decreased in all metal-binding fractions, except the LMW fraction after cold stress. Likewise, the Cu content significantly decreased in the HMW and MT-like protein fraction, but increased in the LMW fraction following treatment in cold and hypoxic stresses. In contrast, no significant alterations were observed in the hepatic MT-like protein fraction as a result of treatment with environmental stressors. These findings indicate that teleost liver MT-like protein is influenced to a greater degree by metal exposure than by environmental stressors, as compared to gill MT-like protein. Therefore, hepatic MT-like protein appears promising as a biomarker for metal exposure in teleost species.

• OSTI ID: 7266186
• Report Number(s): CONF-8909236--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Preprints of Papers Presented at National Meeting, Division of Water, Air and Waste Chemistry, American Chemical Society; (USA) Journal Volume: 28:2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540320 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
560200 -- Thermal Effects
560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ANIMALS
ANOXIA
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
BIOLOGICAL STRESS
BIOLOGICAL VARIABILITY
BIOSYNTHESIS
BODY
CADMIUM
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
FISHES
GENETIC VARIABILITY
GILLS
GLANDS
LIVER
METALLOPROTEINS
METALLOTHIONEIN
METALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANS
POLLUTION
PROTEINS
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
SYNTHESIS
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
TOXICITY
VERTEBRATES
WATER POLLUTION