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Cellular and Molecular Basis of Heavy Metal-Induced Stress in Ciliates


Affiliations
1 Ciliate Biology Laboratory, Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi, Kalkaji, New Delhi 110 019, India
2 Maitreyi College, University of Delhi, Bapudham Complex, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110 021, India
 

Globally, heavy metals are the major pollutants present in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Increase in their concentration due to various anthropogenic activities is a matter of concern. Higher concentration of these metals is known to be toxic due to their non-biodegradable nature. Eukaryotic microorganisms, ciliates can be used as cellular tools to assess and study the various mechanisms to overcome heavy metal toxicity. Here we discuss, at cellular level, the effect of heavy metal toxicity on growth rate, behavioural and morphological changes of ciliates. At the molecular level, changes in stress genes like hsp70, metallothionein and expression of various antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase) adopted by ciliates have also been deliberated. It is also being argued that ciliates can be used as biosensor/cellular tools for detecting heavy metal pollution.

Keywords

Ciliates, Heat Shock Protein, Heavy Metal Stress, Metallothionein, Superoxide Dismutase.
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  • Cellular and Molecular Basis of Heavy Metal-Induced Stress in Ciliates

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Authors

Sripoorna Somasundaram
Ciliate Biology Laboratory, Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi, Kalkaji, New Delhi 110 019, India
Jeeva Susan Abraham
Ciliate Biology Laboratory, Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi, Kalkaji, New Delhi 110 019, India
Swati Maurya
Ciliate Biology Laboratory, Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi, Kalkaji, New Delhi 110 019, India
Seema Makhija
Ciliate Biology Laboratory, Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi, Kalkaji, New Delhi 110 019, India
Renu Gupta
Maitreyi College, University of Delhi, Bapudham Complex, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110 021, India
Ravi Toteja
Ciliate Biology Laboratory, Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi, Kalkaji, New Delhi 110 019, India

Abstract


Globally, heavy metals are the major pollutants present in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Increase in their concentration due to various anthropogenic activities is a matter of concern. Higher concentration of these metals is known to be toxic due to their non-biodegradable nature. Eukaryotic microorganisms, ciliates can be used as cellular tools to assess and study the various mechanisms to overcome heavy metal toxicity. Here we discuss, at cellular level, the effect of heavy metal toxicity on growth rate, behavioural and morphological changes of ciliates. At the molecular level, changes in stress genes like hsp70, metallothionein and expression of various antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase) adopted by ciliates have also been deliberated. It is also being argued that ciliates can be used as biosensor/cellular tools for detecting heavy metal pollution.

Keywords


Ciliates, Heat Shock Protein, Heavy Metal Stress, Metallothionein, Superoxide Dismutase.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv114%2Fi09%2F1858-1865