The ecosystem provides a diverse array of environmental conditions for organisms, and only those that are capable of successfully adapting to these conditions within their habitats can endure, thrive, and proliferate. Further, the environmental conditions within these habitats can significantly affect the bioavailability of chemicals that are introduced therein, thus resulting in varied adverse impacts on the organisms. The present study aims to evaluate the sensitivity of Yuukianura szeptyckii - a species adapted to riparian - to heavy metals following ISO guideline 11276, with the objective of assessing its potential as an indicator species for ecotoxicological evaluations in riparian habitats. The findings revealed that cadmium and copper both had significant toxic effects depending on their concentrations. For cadmium, the LC50 was 280 mg kg-1, EC50 was 66 mg kg-1, and NOEC and LOEC were 25 and 50 mg kg-1, respectively. For copper, the LC50 was 911 mg kg-1, EC50 was 151 mg kg-1, and LOEC was 50 mg kg-1. Comparative analysis with previous results for the international standard species Folsomia candida and the domestic standard species Allonychiurus kimi indicated that Y. szeptyckii exhibited even greater sensitivity to toxicity values. The adverse effects on survival and reproduction were closely associated with the influx concentration of heavy metals in their bodies. Altogether, the results suggest that Y. szeptyckii is a sensitive species for ecotoxicological assessments in riparian habitats, thus making it suitable as an indicator species, particularly in riparian ecosystems that are characterized by relatively high humidity conditions.

In Korea very few studies have been conducted in relation to collembola sensitivity to pollutants in populations exposed to soil contaminants in particular heavy metals. The objective of the current research were to study the thermal effects of selected heavy metals on the survival and reproduction of P. rosea in order to assess its applicability as a test species. Petri dishes (87 mm diameter, 15 mm height) were used for compact soil toxicity test and were filled to a depth of 0.5 mm with 6 g artificial soil and 3.5 mL distilled water was added. 20 adults (6 weeks from egg stage) were introduced to each petri dish and placed in two incubators set at 20℃ and 25℃, respectively under continuous darkness. The 28 days EC50s for cadmium in compact soil at 20℃ and 25℃ were 48.9031 and 91.3585 mg/kg, respectively. This thermal toxicity test of P. rosea is advantageous for various environmental sudies, such as toxicity tests.

The morphological patterns and the cytopathogenicity time of the Vero cells induced by free Cd2+ and pigment-bound Cd2+ were observed by inverted microscope in order to investigate the difference of cadmium toxicity. The Vero cells induced by He

Cadmium (Cd) pollution is thought to be one of the leading threat to the environment due to its high toxicity. However, the molecular responses induced by Cd have so far been grossly overlooked. This study examines the morpho-physiological alterations combined with proteome changes in leaves of Sorghum bicolor when exposed to Cd. Ten days old sorghum seedlings were exposed to different concentrations (0, 100, and 150 μM) of CdCl2 and a significant accumulation of Cd in the leaves was recorded by ICP analysis. Furthermore, the effects of Cd exposure on protein expression patterns in S. Bicolor was investigated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and the 2-DE profile of leaf proteins from both control and Cd-treated seedlings were compared quantitatively using Progenesis SameSpot software. Results lined to morphological changes that plants treated with Cd suffered reduction of growth. The concentration of Cd was markedly reversed by the Cd treatments, whereas the absorption degree of Cd was increased by the higher concentration of Cd by confocal microscopy. Using 2-DE method, a total of 33 differentially expressed protein spots were identified by MALDI-TOF-TOF mass spectrometry. Of those, 13 protein spots were significantly enhanced/reduced while 20 reduced under Cd treatment. The most of the up-regulated proteins are involved in oxidative response, glutathione and sulfur metabolism as well as the secondary metabolite biosynthesis. Collectively, our study provides insights into the integrated molecular mechanisms of early responses to Cd and growth and physiological characteristics of sorghum seedlings hoping to provide references on the mechanism of heavy metal damaging plants.

Microarray technology provides a unique tool for the determination of gene expression at the level of messenger RNA (mRNA). This study, the mRNA expression profiles provide insight into the mechanism of action of cadmium in Fleshy shrimp (Fenneropenaeus chinensis). The ability of genomic technologies was contributed decisively to development of new molecular biomarkers and to the determination of new possible gene targets. Also, it can be approach for monitoring of trace metal using oligo-chip microarray-based in potential model marine user level organisms. 15K oligo-chip for F. chinensis that include mostly unique sets of genes from cDNA sequences was developed. A total of 13,971 spots (1,181 mRNAs up- regulated and 996 down regulated) were identified to be significantly expressed on microarray by hierarchical clustering of genes after exposure to cadmium for different conditions (Cd24-5000 and Cd48-1000). Most of the changes of mRNA expression were observed at the long time and low concentration exposure of Cd48-1000. But, gene ontology analysis (GO annotation) were no significant different between experiments groups. It was observed that mRNA expression of main genes involved in metabolism, cell component, molecular binding and catalytic function. It was suggested that cadmium inhibited metabolism and growth of F. chinensis .

Three-week old Commelina communis was transferred and grown in Hoagland solution containing 100μM Cd2+, 100μM Cd2++100μM kinetin, 100μM Cd2++100μM zeatin and 100μM Cd2++200μM zeatin for 7 days, and then a number of physiological activities were investigated. In control, the length of the stem of plants was increased to 4.7cm, but in Cd2+, Cd2++kinetin, Cd2++100μM zeatin and Cd2++200μM zeatin treatments, the growth of plants were increased to 1.5cm, 2.1cm, 3.9cm and 4.3cm, respectively. In the treatments of Cd2+, Cd2+ +kinetin, Cd2++100μM zeatin and Cd2++200μM zeatin, total chlorophyll contents were reduced to 26%, 24%, 15% and 3%, respectively, on the contrast to the control. In chlorophyll fluorescence experiments, Fv/Fm ratios were also reduced to 44%, 21%, 17% and 5% in the light intensity of 2100μmole E m-2s-1 by Cd2+, Cd2++ kinetin, Cd2++100μM zeatin and Cd2++200μM zeatin treatments on the contrast to the control. Water stresses were increased to 2.6, 1.7 and 1.2 times by Cd2+, Cd2++kinetin and Cd2++100μM zeatin. On the other hand, combination of Cd2++200μM zeatin reduced water stress to 0.12%. In Cd2+ accumulation experiments Cd2+ transports were inhibited to 33%, 48% and 70% by Cd2++kinetin, Cd2++100μM zeatin and Cd2++200μM zeatin. Therefore, it could be concluded that zeatin clearly reduced the toxicities of Cd2+ by reducing the absorption of Cd2+.