Assessment of EMS-induced genotoxicity in the Indian climbing perch, Anabas testudineus: cytogenetical vis-à-vis protein endpoints.

ABSTRACT

Genotoxic effects of EMS have been assessed in fish, A. testudineus, using widely accepted cytogenetic protocols like chromosome aberrations, nuclear anomalies in red blood cells and abnormal sperm head morphology. In addition, gel electrophoretic protein profiles and total protein contents in nine selected tissues were analysed for evaluating their utility as potential indicators of genotoxicity. EMS not only caused chromosomal aberrations in somatic cells, nuclear anomalies in red blood cells, and increased incidence of sperm with abnormal head morphology, but also altered significantly both protein profiles and total protein contents in all tissues tested vis-à-vis suitable controls, indicating relevance of protein data in genotoxicity assessment.