Stress Protein Responses in South African Freshwater Invertebrates Exposed to Detergent Surfactant Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate (LAS)

Abstract

Stress responses can be measured at various levels of biological organization, from sub-organism through to ecosystem level. This study aimed to investigate stress protein induction as a sub-organism level stress response in two South African freshwater aquatic macroinvertebrates exposed to detergent linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS). Shrimp Caridina nilotica and limpet Burnupia stenochorias were exposed to a range of LAS concentrations (0, 1, 1.8, 3.2, 6.5 and 12.7 mg/L and 0, 0.6, 1.2, 1.6 and 3.2 mg/L respectively) for 96 h. Surviving organisms were prepared for sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blot analysis. In C. nilotica there appeared to be induction of a putative ≈ 70 kDa protein at 12.7 mg/L LAS, and induction of putative ≈45 and ≈40 kDa proteins at concentrations of 6.5 mg/L LAS and above. However, only an Hsp70 protein was detected with anti-Hsp72/Hsc73 at 12.7 mg/L LAS. No protein induction was observed in exposed B. stenochorias, however an Hsp40 protein was detected with anti-Hsp40 in exposed and unexposed limpets.