PARENT SESSION
1D Bioassays for specific hazards (estrogenic effects, genotoxicity, neurotoxicity, ...)
9:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Tuesday, 08 May 2001

(T/EH034) Cadmium-induced apoptosis in nauplii larvae of barnacle Balanus amphitrite Darwin.

Cheng, Han¹, Chan, Kwok¹, Chan, Po¹, So, Chun¹, Lam, Paul¹, Wu, Rudolf¹, ¹

ABSTRACT- The effect of cadmium on stage II nauplii larvae of barnacle Balanus amphitrite Darwin was investigated. Barnacle larvae were exposed to 0-15 mM CdCl2 for 24 h. Apoptotic cells were stained by the terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) method. Incidence of apoptosis, as measured by numbers of animals with ecotpic pattern of apoptosis as well as numbers of apoptotic cells per animal, was assessed under confocal microscopy. A dose-related increase in apoptotic incidences was observed in cadmium exposed nauplii larvae. This study suggested that cadmium-induced impairment of physiological functions in barnacle larvae might be mediated by increased occurrence of apoptotic cells.

Key words: cadmium, barnacle larvae, apoptosis, TUNEL