Metallothionein-like proteins and zinc--copper interaction in the hindgut of Porcellio scaber (Crustacea: Isopoda) exposed to zinc.

Metallothioneins (MTs) are ubiquitous low-molecular-weight metal-binding proteins, with a variety of functions in metal metabolism ascribed to them. Among terrestrial invertebrates, MTs have been studied in nematodes, insects, snails, and earthworms. The aim of this study was the characterization of MT-like proteins in the terrestrial isopod crustacean Porcellio scaber in order to analyze their probable role in the metabolism of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn). Dietary Zn supplementation (793 microg Zn/g dry food, 6 d) was applied to stimulate MT synthesis. After separation of the hindgut post-microsomic supernatant (cytosol) of Zn-exposed animals by gel filtration on a Sephadex G-75 column, a Cu- and Zn-containing peak was detected in the position of Ve/Vo approximately 2, where MTs are expected to elute. Rechromatography of these fractions by size-exclusion chromatography-high-performance liquid chromatography revealed that the 215-nm absorbance peak coincided with the absorbance peak of the rabbit MT II standard. These low-molecular-weight Cu- and Zn-binding compounds, detected in the cytosol of the hindgut cells in Zn-exposed P. scaber, are considered to be Cu, Zn-MT-like proteins. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the characterization of MT-like proteins in isopod crustaceans. These results also indicate that both Zn and Cu dynamics in P. scaber hindgut are affected at the given dietary Zn supplementation and that MT-like proteins are involved in this Zn-Cu interaction.

Morphological description of bacterial infection of digestive glands in the terrestrial isopod porcellio scaber (Isopoda, crustacea)

Morphological studies of the hepatopancreas of the terrestrial isopod Porcellio scaber revealed bacterial infection. The percentage of infected animals collected from the same site varied from 0 to 10% during the 4 years of study. Transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and light microscopy revealed that infected glands differed from those in healthy isopods. The most prominent sign was white spots between 100 and 200 &mgr;m in diameter along the entire gland. These spots were aggregations of vacuoles in the cells that were densely filled with bacteria in different phases of the developmental cycle that included the formation of small, dense, rod-shaped infective bacteria and much larger spherical multiplying cells filled with aggregates of polysomes and a chromatin network. Occasionally, large sphericles were filled with homogeneous electron-dense material. Bacteria were not observed in the cell nucleus. Small vacuoles of less than 5 &mgr;m were filled predominately with spherical bacteria but rod-shaped forms were also present in large numbers. Larger vacuoles of 10 to 20 &mgr;m in the main were densely filled with rod-shaped bacteria. According to the literature on the morphological characteristics of bacteria infecting invertebrates, those described in our study would be classified in the genus Rickettsiella. However, most recent investigations show that besides morphological investigations, genetic ones are also needed to define the taxonomic position of bacteria that infect invertebrates. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.