Cadmium effects on the fitness-related traits and antioxidative defense of Lymantria dispar L. larvae

Abstract

Cadmium, like many other pollutants, is nondegradable and can be accumulated by Lymantria dispar at a level that affects fitness components, physiology, and development, which could indicate presence of environment pollution by heavy metals. The cadmium effect on fitness-related traits in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth instar of L. dispar L. was determined. Furthermore, activities of the following antioxidative defense components after the larvae had been fed on the artificial cadmium-supplemented diet (50 μg Cd/g dry food) were assessed: superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APOX), total glutathione amount (GSH), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), glutathione reductase (GR), and the amount of free sulfhydryl (SH) groups. Statistically significant delay of development in the fourth, fifth, and sixth instar and decrease of the larval mass in the third and fourth instar were estimated after the exposure to cadmium through food in comparison to the control. There were no changes in SOD activity of cadmium-treated larvae. Significantly lower CAT, APOX, and GR activities were recorded in the third, fifth, and in the third instar, respectively. At the same time, higher activity was recorded in the sixth instar, while GST activity was higher in the third. GSH content was significantly lower during all instars after treatment but the amount of SH groups was higher in older larvae. The strategy of antioxidative defense and the adjustment or modulation of fitness-related traits in presence of cadmium was dependent on the age of larvae in L. dispar, which might be used in early metal risk assessment in Lepidoptera and other insects.

Effects of fluoranthene on the fitness-related traits and antioxidative defense in Lymantria dispar L.

“…Our results showed harmful effects of fluoranthene on the fitness-related traits of gypsy moth larvae, already obvious in larvae reared on the diet supplemented with the lowest fluoranthene concentration. Similar effects have previously been shown in gypsy moth larvae exposed to heavy metal contamination (Mirčić et al 2013). In the present study, the most significant differences of analyzed developmental parameters were detected at lower concentrations of fluoranthene, while their median response was recorded at higher concentrations.…”

“…However, catalase is not able to scavenge hydrogen peroxide at low concentrations, and this function is attributed to ascorbate peroxidase (ClavaronMathews et al 1997). Increased activity of antioxidative defense components in response to heavy metal contamination has been shown in the gypsy moth and other insect species (Migula et al 2004;Mirčić et al 2013).…”

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles SBA-15 loaded with emodin upregulate the antioxidative defense of Euproctis chrysorrhoea (L.) larvae

“…It was shown that the toxic mechanisms of EO are partly mediated through the hydroperoxide generated from the semiquinone, because this effect was significantly inhibited by CAT (Huang et al, 1992). Ascorbate peroxidase could compete with H 2 O 2 overproduction (Mirčić et al, 2013;Perić-Mataruga et al, 2014) due to its increased ability to lower H 2 O 2 concentrations when compared to CAT. It should not be excluded that other mechanisms, such as the antioxidant defense in the midgut epithelium by the peritrophic envelope, which can function as a radical-scavenging antioxidant in caterpillars (Barbehenn and Stannard, 2004), or the increased levels of GSH, could be responsible for the increased resistance of late-instar larvae to phenolic compounds (Barbehenn and Kochmanski, 2013), and that they could compensate for stress.…”

“…The aim of this study was to examine the effects of EO and mesoporous nanosilica carrier SBA-15 loaded with EO on the antioxidative defenses, specifically superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and glutathione reductase (GR), in E. chrysorrhoea larvae. Lepidopteran larvae rely on these antioxidative enzymes and ascorbate peroxidase (APOX), as well as on nonenzymatic cellular antioxidants, glutathione (GSH), ascorbic acid, and others to counteract the free-radical cascade of oxygen (Perić-Mataruga et al, 1997Krishnan and Kodrík, 2006;Jena et al, 2013;Mirčić et al, 2013;Mrdaković et al, 2015;Renault et al, 2016). The superoxide radicals generated under oxidative stress are rapidly dismutated to hydrogen peroxide by SOD.…”

Transcriptome Profiling Analysis of Wolf Spider <em>Pardosa pseudoannulata</em> (Araneae: Lycosidae) after Cadmium Exposure

“…Genes encoding detoxification enzymes played important role in preventing oxidative stresses and protecting organisms by the scavenging of ROS [55][56][57]. Glutathione metabolism played a pivotal role in protecting the organisms from heavy metal stress by quenching induced ROS, and GST is the most important enzyme of phase II detoxification and has a central role in defence against various environmental pollutants [58][59][60]. In the present study, several glutathione metabolism related enzymes were found based on the assembled transcriptome background, two transcripts encoding GST were detected over-expressed compared with the control in pathway of glutathione metabolism, indicating their important roles in the defence against Cd stress.…”