Background: Cadmium (Cd) is toxic heavy metal that accumulates in organisms after passing through their respiratory and digestive tracts. Although several studies have reported the toxic effects of Cd exposure on human health, its role in embryonic development during preimplantation stage remains unclear. We investigated the effects of Cd on porcine embryonic development and elucidated the mechanism. Methods: We cultured parthenogenetic embryos in media treated with 0, 20, 40, or 60 μM Cd for 6 days and evaluated the rates of cleavage and blastocyst formation. To investigate the mechanism of Cd toxicity, we examined intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and glutathione (GSH) levels. Moreover, we examined mitochondrial content, membrane potential, and ROS. Results: Cleavage and blastocyst formation rates began to decrease significantly in the 40 μM Cd group compared with the control. During post-blastulation, development was significantly delayed in the Cd group. Cd exposure significantly decreased cell number and increased apoptosis rate compared with the control. Embryos exposed to Cd had significantly higher ROS and lower GSH levels, as well as lower expression of antioxidant enzymes, compared with the control. Moreover, embryos exposed to Cd exhibited a significant decrease in mitochondrial content, mitochondrial membrane potential, and expression of mitochondrial genes and an increase in mitochondrial ROS compared to the control. Conclusions: We demonstrated that Cd exposure impairs porcine embryonic development by inducing oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Our findings provide insights into the toxicity of Cd exposure on mammalian embryonic development and highlight the importance of preventing Cd pollution.

Cadmium (Cd), a heavy metal found in the aquatic environment, accumulates in organisms through the food chain. In the study, we investigated the survival rates, measurement of body Cd levels, and expression analysis of the stress response genes (Heat shock protein 70: HSP70 and Heat shock protein 60: HSP60) and antioxidant enzyme Glutathione S-Transferases (GST) on benthic oligochaete worm Tubifex tubifex exposed three concentrations of Cd, to analyze the bioaccumulation and changes of stress gene expressions to exposure toxicity of the Cd-spiked sediment. Survival rates of T. tubifex exposed to the Cdspiked sediment were 93% at 0.4 mg kg-1 Cd, 96% at 1.87 mg kg-1 Cd, and 93% at 6.09 mg kg-1 Cd for 10 days. Cd concentration in the body of T. tubifex was higher than that in the sediment. After Cd exposures for 10 days, the body Cd levels were 18.4 mg kg-1, 13.06 mg kg-1, and 79.11 mg kg-1 at exposed three concentrations of Cd, respectively. Upregulation of HSP70 gene expression was observed at all concentrations of exposed Cd as a time-dependent manner, whereas transcriptional expression of the HSP60 gene increased as a timedependent manner in T. tubifex exposed to the relative high concentration (6.09 mg kg-1) of Cd. However, GST gene expression increased on day 1 at all concentrations after Cd exposures, and then downregulated until 10 days. These results indicate to ecotoxicological and molecular effects in benthic oligochaete worm T. tubifex to Cd-spiked sediment and provide the basic information for the utilization of environmental toxicity assessment using the T. tubifex as a aquatic pollution indicator species.

The effects of cadmium ions (Cd2+) on the Chl a fluorescence of Ricciocarpos natans were investigated in order to determine whether Chl fluorescence can be used as a biomarker to estimate the physiological responses of plants to cadmium stress. In all plants treated with Cd2+, the image of Fv/Fm, which represents the maximum photochemical efficiency of PSⅡ, changed as the Cd2+ concentration increased, when treated for 48 h or more. Changes of ΦPSⅡ and QP images were recognized even at 10 μM Cd2+. The Chl a O-J-I-P fluorescence transient was also affected even at 10 μM Cd2+. The fluorescence yield decreased considerably in steps J, I and P in plants treated with Cd2+, although a typical polyphasic rise was observed in non-treated plants. The Chl fluorescence parameters, Fm, Fv/Fo, Sm, SFIabs, PIabs and ETo/CS, decreased as the Cd2+ concentration increased, while the Mo and Kn parameters increased. Peroxidase activity decreased significantly and catalase activity increased as the Cd2+ concentration increased. Because of its sensitivity to Cd2+ Ricciocarpos natans is useful in experiments investigating the responses of plants to cadmium exposure. Several parameters (Fm, Fv/Fo, Sm, SFIabs, PIabs, ETo/CS, Mo and Kn) can be applied to determine quantitatively the physiological states of plants under cadmium stress.

Glutamine synthetase (GS) is an enzyme that plays an essential role in the metabolism of nitrogen by catalyzing the condensation of glutamate and ammonia to form glutamine. Exposure of plants to cadmium (Cd) has been reported to decrease GS activity in maize, pea, bean, and rice. To better understand the function of the GS gene under Cd stress in rice, we constructed a recombinant pART vector carrying the GS gene under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter and OCS terminator and transformed using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. We then investigated GS overexpressing rice lines at the physiological and molecular levels under Cd toxicity. The GS activity along with mRNA expression were found higher in transgenic than in wild type plants. And this is validated by the low malondialdehyde contents observed 10 days after treatment. GS overexpression in rice resulted in the modulation of expression of enzymes responsible for membrane peroxidation, which may result in the sudden death of plants. Our results thus describe the features of a transgenic rice plants with enhanced tolerance to Cd toxicity.

The effects of Cd2+ ions on the Chl a fluorescence of 5 hydrophytes (e.g. Lemna, Salvinia, Ricciocarp, Nymph, Typha plants) were investigated in order to select Cd2+-sensitive plant species and to get informations on physiological responses of plants to Cd2+ stress. Lemna plants were most sensitive to cadmium stress, while Nymph plants were tolerant. However, in all Cd2+-treated plants, Fv/Fm, the maximum photochemical efficiency of PSⅡ, decreased in proportion to the increase of Cd2+ concentration and treatment time. The Chl a fluorescence transient O-J-I-P was also considerably affected by Cd2+ ions; the fluorescence yield decreased considerably in steps J, I and P in Cd2+ treated plants, although it followed a typical polyphasic rise in non-treated plants. In Lemna plants, the functional parameters, ABS/CS, TRo/CS와 ETo/CS and RC/CS, decreased in proportion to the increase of Cd2+ concentration, while N, Mo and Kn increased. The structural parameters, Φpo, Φpo/(1-Φpo), Plabs, SFlabs, Kp and RC/ABS, also decreased according to the increase of Cd2+ concentration. Consequently, Lemna plants will be useful as a experimental model system to investigate responses of plants. And several functional or structural parameters could be applied to determine quantitatively the physiological states of plants under stresses.