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

Somasundaram, Sripoorna; Abraham, Jeeva Susan; Maurya, Swati; Gupta, Renu; Toteja, Ravi

doi:10.18520/cs/v114/i09/1858-1865

Cited by 19 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…HSPs are expressed under normal cellular conditions but show significant response when cells are exposed to various environmental stresses such as temperature variation, heavy metals, salinity, etc. [ 93 ]. HSPs mediate a wide range of cellular functions including protein folding, assembly, and repair, and their synthesis is enhanced under stress conditions (e.g., temperature, hypoxia, osmotic shock, and toxic substances).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mercury-Induced Oxidative Stress Response in Benthic Foraminifera: An In Vivo Experiment on Amphistegina lessonii

Ciacci

Betti

Abramovich

et al. 2022

Biology

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The evaluation of the effects of pollution (e.g., Hg pollution) is a difficult task and relies mostly on biomonitoring based on bioindicators. The application of biomarkers may represent a complementary or alternative approach in environmental biomonitoring. Mercury is known to pose a significant health hazard due to its ability to cross cellular membranes, bioaccumulate, and biomagnify. In the present research, the effects of short-term (i.e., 24 h) Hg exposure in the symbiont-bearing benthic foraminiferal species Amphistegina lessonii are evaluated using several biomarkers (i.e., proteins and enzymes). Mercury leads to significant changes in the biochemistry of cells. Its effects are mainly associated with oxidative stress (i.e., production of reactive oxygen species: ROS), depletion of glutathione (GSH), and alteration of protein synthesis. Specifically, our findings reveal that exposure to Hg leads to the consumption of GSH by GPx and GST for the scavenging of ROS and the activation of antioxidant-related enzymes, including SOD and GSH-enzymes (GST, GSR, GPx, and Se-GPx), that are directly related to a defense mechanism against ROS. The Hg exposure also activates the MAPK (e.g., p-p38) and HSP (e.g., HSP 70) pathways. The observed biochemical alterations associated with Hg exposure may represent effective and reliable proxies (i.e., biomarkers) for the evaluation of stress in A. lessonii and lead to a possible application for the detection of early warning signs of environmental stress in biomonitoring.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mercury-Induced Oxidative Stress Response in Benthic Foraminifera: An In Vivo Experiment on Amphistegina lessonii

Ciacci

Betti

Abramovich

et al. 2022

Biology

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“…Heavy metals are highly toxic and generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) that cause significant DNA or protein damage and lipid peroxidation which gradually induce cell death (Ali et al 2019;Gutérrez et al 2008;Leonard et al 2004;Sharma et al 2012;Valko et al 2005). The living organisms especially the microbes express a range of tolerance mechanisms to combat metal stress (Gutiérrez et al 2015;Igiri et al 2018;Somasundaram et al 2018). In the last few decades, the interest to study heavy metal interaction with the microorganisms has increased (Abraham et al 2017;Arora et al 1999;Jin et al 2018;Kim et al 2011;Makhija et al 2015;Somasundaram et al 2019;Toteja et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They play crucial role in shaping the microbial diversity in the aquatic ecosystems (Abraham et al 2019a). Therefore, ciliate diversity and abundance are being linked in several studies to study the environmental changes (Abraham et al 2019b;Jiang and Morin 2004;Maurya et al 2020;Xu et al 2014) and in monitoring the heavy metal pollution (Abraham et al 2017;Gutiérrez et al 2003;Somasundaram et al 2018Somasundaram et al , 2019Toteja et al 2017;Vilas-Boas et al 2020;Yeomans et al 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular characterization and transcriptional modulation of stress-responsive genes under heavy metal stress in freshwater ciliate, Euplotes aediculatus

et al. 2022

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The concentration of heavy metals in the environment is increasing predominantly due to anthropogenic activities such as mining and other industrial activities. Exposure to metals above a certain threshold level induces deleterious effects in the living organisms. To survive such harsh environment, microbes possess a range of tolerance mechanisms and express stress-responsive genes and/or antioxidant enzymes to detoxify the metal stress.Protozoans, especially ciliates, are highly sensitive to the environmental changes, thereby making them suitable model systems for ecotoxicological studies. Thus, in the present work, the effect of heavy metals such as cadmium and copper has been studied in the freshwater ciliate, Euplotes aediculatus. This study focuses on the activity of antioxidant enzymes namely catalase and glutathione peroxidase in E. aediculatus under the heavy metal stress. Also, the expression of stress-responsive genes; heat-shock protein 70 (hsp70) and catalase (cat), has been studied after metal exposure. It was observed that the enzyme activity and the expression of these genes increased with an increase in the metal concentration and with the duration of metal exposure. Besides, these genes have been characterized to understand their role in cell defense. These genes of fresh water ciliate, therefore, can be used as molecular biomarkers to evaluate heavy metal toxicity.

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“…These distinctive characteristics make them extremely useful models in studies of cell biology, molecular biology, genetics, ecology and evolution [4,5]. They have been used extensively as model systems for assessing heavy metal toxicity in freshwater ecosystems [6][7][8][9], to detect stress-induced morphological anomalies [10][11][12] and in the expression of genes such as hsp70, superoxide dismutase and metallothionein [13][14][15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Techniques and tools for species identification in ciliates: a review

Abraham

Somasundaram

Maurya

et al. 2019

International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology

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Ciliates are highly divergent unicellular eukaryotic organisms with nuclear dualism and a highly specialized ciliary pattern. They inhabit all biotopes and play crucial roles in regulating microbial food webs as they prey on bacteria, protists and even on microscopic animals. Nevertheless, subtle morphological differences and tiny sizes hinder proper species identification for many ciliates. In the present review, an attempt has been made to elaborate the various approaches used by modern day ciliate taxonomists for species identification. The different approaches involved in taxonomic characterization of ciliates such as classical (using live-cell observations, staining techniques, etc.), molecular (involving various marker genes) and statistical (delimitation of cryptic species) methods have been reviewed. Ecological and behavioural aspects in species identification have also been discussed. In present-day taxonomy, it is important to use a 'total evidence' approach in identifying ciliates, relying on both classical and molecular information whenever possible. This integrative approach will help in the mergence of classical methods with modern-day tools for comprehensive species description in future.

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

Cited by 19 publications

References 59 publications

Mercury-Induced Oxidative Stress Response in Benthic Foraminifera: An In Vivo Experiment on Amphistegina lessonii

Mercury-Induced Oxidative Stress Response in Benthic Foraminifera: An In Vivo Experiment on Amphistegina lessonii

Molecular characterization and transcriptional modulation of stress-responsive genes under heavy metal stress in freshwater ciliate, Euplotes aediculatus

Techniques and tools for species identification in ciliates: a review

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