Environmental Science and Pollution Research

, Volume 23, Issue 15, pp 15495–15503 | Cite as

First report on fish cysteine as a biomarker of contamination in the River Chenab, Pakistan

  • Bilal Hussain
  • Tayyaba Sultana
  • Salma Sultana
  • Shahid Mahboob
  • Muhammad Farooq
  • Khalid Al-Ghanim
  • Shahid Nadeem
Research Article
First Online:
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Accepted:
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Abstract

The eastern and southern parts of the Faisalabad city produce considerable quantities of industrial and municipal pollutants, much of which is drained into the River Chenab, reducing the productivity of fauna and flora in the river. This study was aimed to determine whether cysteine is useful as a biomarker of exposure to polluted fresh water. The amino acid profile of fish muscle was analyzed by paper chromatography in Cirrhinus mrigala and Labeo rohita from the River Chenab to determine habitat related variations due to the pollution from industrial and domestic sources. C. mrigala showed higher level of metal contamination in muscle tissues for Sn, Cr, Pb, Zn, Mn, Cu, and Cd when compared to L. rohita. Both fish species collected from polluted areas of the river Chenab showed significantly (P < 0.01) higher levels of metals in comparison to upstream and farmed fish. Farmed C. mrigala showed cysteine concentrations in the muscle tissue as 22 ± 1 mg/g dry weight, but concentrations increased to 45 ± 2 mg/g dry weight for fish from a mildly polluted section of the river, and further increased to 83 ± 2 mg/g dry weight in more heavily polluted sections. Cysteine concentration in farmed L. rohita was detected as 28 ± 2 and 25 ± 4 mg/g dry weight, respectively for farmed fish and fish from a mildly polluted section of the river, and then increased to 94 ± 3 mg/g dry weight for fish from highly polluted water. C. mrigala from a mildly polluted area of the river also had higher levels of cysteine in the muscle, along with increases in aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and alanine. Elevated concentrations of cysteine seem to be associated with a threat to these fish species in polluted sections of the river, and thus may be used as a biomarker.

Keywords

Habitat Heavy metals Major carps Amino acids 

Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their sincere appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for its funding of this research through the Research Group Project No. RG-1435-012.

Supplementary material

11356_2016_6711_MOESM1_ESM.xlsx (90 kb)
ESM 1(XLSX 89 kb)

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  • Bilal Hussain
    • 1
  • Tayyaba Sultana
    • 1
  • Salma Sultana
    • 1
  • Shahid Mahboob
    • 1
    • 2
  • Muhammad Farooq
    • 2
  • Khalid Al-Ghanim
    • 2
  • Shahid Nadeem
    • 3
  1. 1.Department of ZoologyGovernment College UniversityFaisalabadPakistan
  2. 2.Department of Zoology, College of ScienceKing Saud UniversityRiyadhKingdom of Saudi Arabia
  3. 3.Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and BiologyFaisalabadPakistan

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