Metallothionein as biomarker of mussel exposure to heavy metals

The biological effect of marine pollution with heavy metals is followed in bivalves by means of the induced amount of metallothioneins (MTs), determined in different tissue types. The biological effect of the available toxic metals, cadmium and mercury, are related to the amount of MTs in the whole edible part, gills and the digestive gland of Mytilus galloprovincialis. For that purpose highly sensitive chemical and biochemical methods for metal and metallothionein content determination were developed and applied. The study was conducted in the Kastela Bay, which is the urban and industrial center of Dalmatia, Croatia, with two groups of mussels, indigenous and the transplanted. In accordance with the objective of the Symposium the results on monitoring the marine pollution by means of MTs as a biomarker, isolated from the edible, sessile and filter-feeding bivalves are discussed. (author)