Abstract
With regard to cadmium toxicity, Drosophila strains v; bw and Austin represent extremes in resistance and sensitivity, respectively. Both strains produced metallothionein (MT) in response to Cd ions in their diet. Austin produced more metallothionein than v; bw at Cd ion levels below 0.2 mM, when both strains were allowed lifetime development on Cd 2+-containing media. When the rate of MT appearance + as measured for 4 days in young 1171 1458 V 3 adults the results showed no clear trend with time within a strain or between strains. The plot of LC 50 vs. MT levels for identical developmental conditions revealed that for v; bw small increases in MT corresponded to large increases in resistance whereas for the sensitive Austin even large increases in MT had comparatively little effect on increasing LC 50. Results given here suggest that differences in total MT content do not explain the genetically demonstrable difference in Cd 2+-resistance between v; bw and Austin. However, since two MT genes are identified in Drosophila, differences in resistance could be reflective of greater relative amounts of one “more important” MT in the resistant fly.
Published Version
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