Environmental stress and genetic damage in aquatic organisms

This work was planned to investigate the effect of pollution upon the genetic material of aquatic organisms. In order to achieve such a purpose, Tilapia nilotica and Tilapia zillii were chosen and caught from two regions varying in their environmental stress; the first is River Nile and the second is a closed drain which receives domestic sewage. Mitotic activity, chromosomal aberrations and in vivo induction of sister chromatid exchanges were examined in gills as well as in kidneys. The results obtained revealed that the environmental stress was proven to be capable of causing inhibition of cell proliferation; clastogenic effect and primary DNA damage in gills and kidneys of both species with differential effect