RESUMEN
Metallothionein (MT) has been used extensively as a potential molecular biomarker to detect heavy metal pollution in aquatic organisms. In order to investigate the modulation effect of heavy metals and to establish suitable biomarkers for the monitoring of heavy metal pollution, Pelteobagrus fulvidraco metallothionein gene was characterized as the first report in the family Bagridae. Pf-MT transcript was detected at high levels in liver, gonad, kidney, and brain compared to other tissues. A time-course study in response to waterborne Cd (5 ppm) revealed that a significant increase in the Pf-MT transcript abundance was observed at 6 h in gill, kidney, and liver. These elevated levels were kept for 96 h, implying that Cd distributed fast into different organs and was involved in the tissue-specific induction pattern. We observed a significant Pf-MT transcript increase in liver tissues at 48 h, followed by gill at 12 h and intestine at 48 h after Cd exposure. This indicates hepatic MT expression as a potential biomarker of acute Cd exposure in this species. Cd-binding ability of recombinant Pf-MT protein provided evidence for sensitivity to Cd and other heavy metal exposure. In the case of Zn exposure (1 ppm), a significant increase in Pf-MT transcript abundance was observed at 12 h, and a peak induction level reaching sixfold at 24 h was kept until 48 h, showing similar transcript induction patterns with Cd. A high level of Pf-MT mRNA after exposure to Cu (1 ppm) was observed at 12 h that gradually increased until 96 h with a 12-fold induction, revealing a long-lasting induction and somewhat dissimilar pattern compared to other metals in liver. Our results demonstrate that Pf-MT can be induced by heavy metals in a tissue-specific and metal-specific manner and plays probably a conserved role in metal detoxification. This study provides new information on P. fulvidraco metallothionein gene for the use of biomarkers indicating metal pollution in fish.