Cadmium Uptake, MT Gene Activation and Structure of Large-Sized Multi-Domain Metallothioneins in the Terrestrial Door Snail Alinda biplicata (Gastropoda, Clausiliidae)

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Veronika Pedrini-Martha¹  Reinhard Dallinger¹  Simon Köll¹  Martin Dvorak¹ 

[1] Department of Zoology and Center of Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria;

关键词: multi-domain metallothionein;    cadmium metabolism;    rna expression;    intronless genes;    alinda biplicata;    gastropoda;    avoidance behavior;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms21051631

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Terrestrial snails (Gastropoda) possess Cd-selective metallothioneins (CdMTs) that inactivate Cd²⁺ with high affinity. Most of these MTs are small Cysteine-rich proteins that bind 6 Cd²⁺ equivalents within two distinct metal-binding domains, with a binding stoichiometry of 3 Cd²⁺ ions per domain. Recently, unusually large, so-called multi-domain MTs (md-MTs) were discovered in the terrestrial door snail Alinda biplicata (A.b.). The aim of this study is to evaluate the ability of A.b. to cope with Cd stress and the potential involvement of md-MTs in its detoxification. Snails were exposed to increasing Cd concentrations, and Cd-tissue concentrations were quantified. The gene structure of two md-MTs (9md-MT and 10md-MT) was characterized, and the impact of Cd exposure on MT gene transcription was quantified via qRT PCR. A.b. efficiently accumulates Cd at moderately elevated concentrations in the feed, but avoids food uptake at excessively high Cd levels. The structure and expression of the long md-MT genes of A.b. were characterized. Although both genes are intronless, they are still transcribed, being significantly upregulated upon Cd exposure. Overall, our results contribute new knowledge regarding the metal handling of Alinda biplicata in particular, and the potential role of md-MTs in Cd detoxification of terrestrial snails, in general.

【 授权许可】

Unknown