Metallothionein-like proteins in the blue crab Callinectes sapidus: Effect of water salinity and ions

Dec 4, 2008Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Part A, Molecular & integrative physiology

Metal-binding proteins in blue crabs vary with water salt levels and ions

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Abstract

MTLP concentration in the gills of blue crabs increased significantly after exposure to low salinity conditions.

MTLP concentration was higher in the hepatopancreas than in the gills under normal salinity conditions.
Exposure to hypo-osmotic shock led to a significant increase in MTLP concentration in both anterior and posterior gills over time.
In vitro experiments showed that perfusion and incubation of gills in low salinity solutions also increased MTLP concentration.
In isolated posterior gills, MTLP concentration was inversely correlated with calcium levels in the incubation medium.
The increase in gill MTLP concentration in low salinity is associated with an adaptive response to hypo-osmotic stress.

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The effect of water salinity and ions on metallothionein-like proteins (MTLP) concentration was evaluated in the blue crab Callinectes sapidus. MTLP concentration was measured in tissues (hepatopancreas and gills) of crabs acclimated to salinity 30 ppt and abruptly subjected to a hypo-osmotic shock (salinity 2 ppt). It was also measured in isolated gills (anterior and posterior) of crabs acclimated to salinity 30 ppt. Gills were perfused with and incubated in an isosmotic saline solution (ISS) or perfused with ISS and incubated in a hypo-osmotic saline solution (HSS). The effect of each single water ion on gill MTLP concentration was also analyzed in isolated and perfused gills through experiments of ion substitution in the incubation medium. In vivo, MTLP concentration was higher in hepatopancreas than in gills, being not affected by the hypo-osmotic shock. However, MTLP concentration in posterior and anterior gills significantly increased after 2 and 24 h of hypo-osmotic shock, respectively. In vitro, it was also increased when anterior and posterior gills were perfused with ISS and incubated in HSS. In isolated and perfused posterior gills, MTLP concentration was inversely correlated with the calcium concentration in the ISS used to incubate gills. Together, these findings indicate that an increased gill MTLP concentration in low salinity is an adaptive response of the blue crab C. sapidus to the hypo-osmotic stress. This response is mediated, at least in part, by the calcium concentration in the gill bath medium. The data also suggest that the trigger for this increase is purely branchial and not systemic.

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Metallothionein-like proteins in the blue crab Callinectes sapidus: Effect of water salinity and ions

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