Proteomic changes in response to acute cadmium toxicity in gill tissue of Paralichthys olivaceus.

In the present study, we developed a two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) technique for examining the response of the proteome from gill tissue of Paralichthys olivaceus (POGT) to acute cadmium (AC) toxicity. Approximately 700 protein spots were detected from the gill sample when applying a 600µg protein 2D-PAGE gel in the pH range 5.0-8.0, and approximately 400 of these were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) and database search. Compared to a control sample, significant changes were visualized in 18 protein spots exposed to seawater cadmium acute toxicity at 10.0ppm for 24h. Among these spots, two were up-regulated, one was down-regulated, seven showed low expression, and eight showed high expression. The collected spots were further identified by PMF and database search. Ten of the 18 proteins identified on the 2D-PAGE gel, including heat shock protein 70 and calcium-binding protein, demonstrated a synchronous response to AC, and we suggest that the variable levels and trends of these spots on the gel might be utilized as biomarker profiles to investigate cadmium contamination levels in seawater and to evaluate the degree of risk of human fatalities. The experimental results emphasize that the application of multiple biomarkers has an advantage over single biomarkers for monitoring levels of heavy metal contamination in seawater.

[Seasonal Succession of Phytoplankton Functional Groups and Their Driving Factors in the Siminghu Reservoir].

The succession of phytoplankton communities is affected by pure environmental factors as well as the interaction of various factors. Phytoplankton communities with eleven aquatic abiotic factors and four biotic factors were investigated in the Siminghu Reservoir, and the seasonal succession of phytoplankton FGs related to the biotic and abiotic factors was analyzed. The results suggested that a total of 22 phytoplankton functional groups were identified across the samples, and they were all affiliated with Chlorophyta and Bacillariophyta. An obvious seasonal succession was discovered by NMDS, which were present as D+Lo in summer, D+P+Lo in autumn and winter, and X2+P+MP in spring. In particular, we screened 10 functional groups with biomass significantly associated with the seasonal change in the phytoplankton community. A variance partitioning analysis (VPA) revealed that water temperature-zooplankton covariation and water temperature explained the variation in the phytoplankton functional groups throughout the year. A canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that water temperature, transparency, nitrate nitrogen, and the biomass of zooplankton were the most critical factors determining the community dynamics of phytoplankton.

Acute toxicity profile of cadmium revealed by proteomics in brain tissue of Paralichthys olivaceus: potential role of transferrin in cadmium toxicity.

An analytical approach using two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) separated proteins from the brain tissue of the fish Paralichthys olivaceus. Approximately 600 protein spots were detected from the brain sample when applying 600 microg protein to a 2D-PAGE gel in the pH range 3.5-10.0. Compared to a control sample, significant changes of 24 protein spots were observed in the fish tissue exposed to acute toxicity of seawater cadmium (SCAT) at 10 ppm for 24h. Among these spots, nine were down-regulated, nine were up-regulated, two showed high expression, and four showed low expression. The collected spots were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) and database search, and they were further classified by LOC tree, a hierarchical system of support vector machines which predict their sub-cellular localization. The amount of transferrin expression in brain cells decreased linearly with the increase of SCAT concentration in seawater. Among the 24 proteins identified on a 2D-PAGE gel, 9 demonstrated a synchronous response to acute cadmium, suggesting that they might represent a biomarker profile. Based on their variable levels and trends on the 2D-PAGE gel this protein (likely to be transferrin) suggesting they might be utilized as biomarkers to investigate cadmium pollution levels in seawater and halobios survival, as well as to evaluate the degree of risk of human fatalities. The results indicate that the application of multiple biomarkers has an advantage over a single biomarker for monitoring levels of environmental contamination.

[Community Dynamics of Phytoplankton and Related Affecting Factors in a Eutrophicated Small Pond].

The high-density sampling of eutrophic water can help to reveal the general rules of phytoplankton community succession and the relationship with environmental factors. The species and abundance of plankton and the physical-chemical factors were tracked for 30 weeks from March to October in a eutrophicated small pond. The relationships between the phytoplankton community dynamic change and the physical-chemical factors as well as the zooplankton in the water body community were studied by the multivariate statistical analysis with PRIMER. A total of 54 phytoplankton and 55 zooplankton species were identified, and the abundances of plankton varied from 0.28 x 10(8) - 6.11 x 10(8) cells x L(-1) for phytoplankton and 26-2.5 x 10(5) ind x L(-1) for zooplankton. The dominant species of phytoplankton were Cyanophyta and Chlorophyta, and an obvious succession process was showed with the seasonal change, which could be roughly divided into three stages: Chlorophyta-Cryptophyta type, Chlorophyta-Cyanophyta type and Cyanophyta type. BIO-ENV showed that pH, water temperature, transparency, total phosphorus and the abundances of Rotifera and Copepoda were the most critical influencing factors on the community dynamics of phytoplankton, and compared to zooplankton, the physical-chemical factors might have a greater influence.

Effects of cadmium on cell proliferation, apoptosis, and proto-oncogene expression in zebrafish liver cells.

Cadmium (Cd) is one of the major transitional metal that has toxic effects in aquatic organisms and their associated ecosystem; however, its hepatic toxicity and carcinogenicity are not very well characterized. We used a zebrafish liver (ZFL) cell line as a model to investigate the mechanism of Cd-induced toxicity on hepatocytes. Our results showed that Cd can be effectively accumulated in ZFL cells in our exposure experiments. Cell cytotoxicity assays and flow cytometer measurements revealed that Cd(2+) stimulated ZFL cell proliferation with decreasing apoptotic cell numbers indicating potentially tumorigenic effects of Cd in ZFL cells. Gene expression profiles also indicated that Cd downregulated oncogenes p53 and rad51 and upregulated immediate response oncogenes, growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible (gadd45) genes, and growth factors. We also found dramatic changes in the gene expression of c-jun and igf1rb at different exposure time points, supporting the notion that potentially tumorigenic of Cd-is involved in the activation of immediate early genes or genes related to apoptosis in cancer promotion.

[The establishment, development and application of classification approach of freshwater phytoplankton based on the functional group: a review].

Appropriate schemes for classification of freshwater phytoplankton are prerequisites and important tools for revealing phytoplanktonic succession and studying freshwater ecosystems. An alternative approach, functional group of freshwater phytoplankton, has been proposed and developed due to the deficiencies of Linnaean and molecular identification in ecological applications. The functional group of phytoplankton is a classification scheme based on autoecology. In this study, the theoretical basis and classification criterion of functional group (FG), morpho-functional group (MFG) and morphology-based functional group (MBFG) were summarized, as well as their merits and demerits. FG was considered as the optimal classification approach for the aquatic ecology research and aquatic environment evaluation. The application status of FG was introduced, with the evaluation standards and problems of two approaches to assess water quality on the basis of FG, index methods of Q and QR, being briefly discussed.

Mechanism of cadmium-induced cytotoxicity on the ZFL zebrafish liver cell line.

The cadmium ion (Cd²âº) is a highly toxic metal ion; however, its hepatic toxic effects are not very well characterized in a systematic manner. In this study, a zebrafish liver cell line, ZFL was used as a model to investigate the mechanism of Cd²âº-induced cytotoxicity on hepatocytes. The intracellular level of reactive oxygen species decreased following the administration of Cd²âº; antioxidant levels and related enzyme activities and gene expression were detected, showing that the toxic effects of Cd²âº might not be coupled to oxidative stress. To understand the cytotoxic effects of Cd²âº on ZFL cells after Cd²âº exposure, a total of 77 differentially expressed proteins were detected by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis; 43 of them were further identified by MALDI-TOF-MS. The proteins that responded to Cd²âº in ZFL cells were related to stress response, transporters, regulation of transcription, redox homeostasis, or different signaling pathways, with half of these proteins having metal ion binding capabilities.