Metallothionein in Different Tissues of Freshwater Crab Exposed to Cadmium

In order to investigate the impact of waterborne cadmium on the content of metallothionein(MT) in hepatopancreas,muscle,gill and ovary of Freshwater Crab Sinopotamon henanense,the individuals with similar size and weight were exposed to different concentrations of cadmium(0,14.5,29 and 58 mg/L) for a duration of 1,3 or 5 days.The content of MT in the four tissues was measured by Cd-Hb Saturation and AAS.The results showed that there was a great variation in MT expressed in the tissues of S.henanense after exposing the crabs to different concentrations of cadmium and for different times.The MT content in hepatopancreas was the highest in the four tissues,and the MT expressed in the muscle was more than that in the gill and ovary.This research indicates that the content of MT may be affected by cadmium exposure and that MT contents are different in various tissues after cadmium exposure.