Abstract
Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most harmful metals, being toxic to most animal species, including marine invertebrates. Among marine gastropods, the periwinkle (Littorina littorea) in particular can accumulate high amounts of Cd in its midgut gland. In this organ, the metal can elicit extensive cytological and tissue-specific alterations that may reach, depending on the intensity of Cd exposure, from reversible lesions to pathological cellular disruptions. At the same time, Littorina littorea expresses a Cd-specific metallothionein (MT) that, due to its molecular features, expectedly exerts a protective function against the adverse intracellular effects of this metal. The aim of the present study was, therefore, to assess the time course of MT induction in the periwinkle’s midgut gland on the one hand, and cellular and tissue-specific alterations in the digestive organ complex (midgut gland and digestive tract) on the other, upon exposure to sub-lethal Cd concentrations (0.25 and 1 mg Cd/L) over 21 days. Depending on the Cd concentrations applied, the beginning of alterations of the assessed parameters followed distinct concentration-dependent and time-dependent patterns, where the timeframe for the onset of the different response reactions became narrower at higher Cd concentrations compared to lower exposure concentrations.
Highlights
Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most harmful metals, being considered as a cytotoxic [1], genotoxic [2,3] and carcinogenic agent [4]
One of the marine organisms with an exceptionally high capability for Cd accumulation is the common periwinkle (Littorina littorea) [25,26]. This gastropod species lives on rocky shores of the intertidal zone of the North Atlantic Ocean, where it is intermittently exposed to adverse environmental conditions due to seasonal and daily fluctuations of water and oxygen supply, salinity, temperature, as well as the availability of mineral and metal ions [27,28]
Littorina littorea can resist these stressors by an adaptation of its metabolic pathways and its “cytoprotective repertoire” to the harsh conditions in its habitat [29,30]
Summary
Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most harmful metals, being considered as a cytotoxic [1], genotoxic [2,3] and carcinogenic agent [4]. Cd is highly toxic to aquatic and marine animals [9,10,11] and is, of high relevance as a pollutant in the marine environment [12,13] This is significant considering that, in spite of the normally rather low Cd concentrations in seawater [14,15], many marine species such as invertebrates and fish of upper trophic levels can accumulate high amounts of Cd in their tissues [16,17]. Littorina littorea has apparently improved its fitness to survive by increasing its metal detoxification capacity [31,32]
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