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Molecular characterization and transcriptional modulation of stress-responsive genes under heavy metal stress in freshwater ciliate, Euplotes aediculatus

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Abstract

Heavy metal pollutants in the environment are increasing exponentially due to various anthropogenic factors including mining, industrial and agricultural wastes. Living organisms exposed to heavy metals above a certain threshold level induces deleterious effects in these organisms. To live in such severe environments, microbes have developed a range of tolerance mechanisms which include upregulation of stress-responsive genes and/or antioxidant enzymes to detoxify the metal stress. Single cell eukaryotic microorganisms, i.e., ciliates, are highly sensitive to environmental pollutants mainly due to the absence of cell wall, which make them suitable candidates for conducting ecotoxicological studies. Therefore, the present investigation describes the effects of heavy metals (cadmium and copper) on freshwater ciliate, Euplotes aediculatus. The activities of antioxidant enzymes, i.e., catalase and glutathione peroxidase in E. aediculatus were determined under heavy metal exposure. Besides, the expression of stress-responsive genes, namely, heat-shock protein 70 (hsp70) and catalase (cat), has also been determined in this freshwater ciliate species under metal stress. The present study showed that the enzyme activity and the expression of these genes increased with an increase in the heavy metal concentration and with the duration of metal exposure. Also, these stress-responsive genes were sequenced and characterized to comprehend their role in cell rescue.

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Data availability

The nucleotide sequences obtained in this study have been deposited to GenBank, NCBI.

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the facilities provided by the Principal, Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi for carrying out the present study. The work was also supported by the Senior Research Fellowships to S Somasundaram from UGC (University Grants Commission) and JS Abraham and S Maurya from CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research), New Delhi, India. We sincerely appreciate all the valuable comments and suggestions given by the editor and reviewers which helped us to improve the quality of the manuscript significantly.

Author contributions

R Toteja and S Makhija designed the present study. S Somasundaram, JS Abraham, and S Maurya collected the freshwater samples and performed experiments. S Somasundaram and JS Abraham analyzed the data. S Somasundaram wrote the paper. S Makhija, R Toteja, and R Gupta supervised this study and revised/ improved the paper.

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  1. Ciliate Biology Laboratory, Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

    Sripoorna Somasundaram, Jeeva Susan Abraham, Swati Maurya, Ravi Toteja & Seema Makhija

  2. Zoology Department, Maitreyi College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

    Renu Gupta

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  1. Sripoorna Somasundaram
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Somasundaram, S., Abraham, J.S., Maurya, S. et al. Molecular characterization and transcriptional modulation of stress-responsive genes under heavy metal stress in freshwater ciliate, Euplotes aediculatus. Ecotoxicology 31, 271–288 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-021-02518-y

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