Lead and cadmium influences on the metallothionein expression level in Lymnaea stagnalis L. adults

Abstract

Aim. The article deals with the assessment of some heavy metals effects on metallothionein expression in such a test system as the great pond snail L. stagnalis. Methods. There are methods of mollusk specimen cultivation and gene expression level estimation (PCR in real-time mode), as well as data analysis. Results. A significant increase in MT gene expression was observed in both young (4.5 months) and older (7 months) mollusks on the 7th day of exposure to 0.003 mg/L of lead ions as well as significant increase in MT gene expression was observed in older mollusks on the 7th day of exposure to 0.0001–0.001 mg/L of cadmium ions. Conclusions. The expediency of L. stagnalis adults using at the age of 3 to 5 months with other test systems for biotesting liquid metal-containing waste based on the gene expression evaluation in a short (no more than 7 day) experiment using the Real Time PCR has been shown.Keywords: Lymnaea stagnalis, lead/cadmium, metallothioneins, gene expression, real time PCR.