Copper and Cadmium administration induce toxicity and oxidative stress in the marine flatworm Macrostomum lignano

Yuanyuan Ma (1) , Georgina Rivera-Ingraham (2) , Aude Nommick (3) , Ulf Bickmeyer (4) , Thomas Roeder (1, 5)

1 Kiel University
2 Laboratoire Environnement de Petit Saut
3 IBDM - Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille
4 AWI - Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
5 German Center for Lung Research

The contamination of coastal regions with different toxicants, including heavy metal ions such as copper and cadmium jeopardizes health and survival of organisms exposed to this habitat. In order to study the effects of high copper and cadmium concentrations in these marine environments, we used the flatworm Macrostomum lignano as a model. This platyhelminth lives in shallow coastal waters and is exposed to high concentrations of all toxicants that accumulate in these shallow sea floors. We show that both, cadmium and copper induce toxicity at high concentrations, with copper being more toxic than cadmium. At concentrations below those inducing acute toxicity, long-term survival rates were reduced for both metal ions. The effects of sublethal doses comprise reduced physical activities and an increase in ROS levels within the worms.

Keywords: Reactive oxygen species (ROS); cadmium; copper; oxidative stress; flatworm

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]

Yuanyuan Ma, Georgina Rivera-Ingraham, Aude Nommick, Ulf Bickmeyer, Thomas Roeder. Copper and Cadmium administration induce toxicity and oxidative stress in the marine flatworm Macrostomum lignano. Aquatic Toxicology, 2020, 221, pp.105428. ⟨10.1016/j.aquatox.2020.105428⟩. ⟨hal-03155079⟩