Cadmium-induced biomarkers discovery and comparative network analysis in Daphnia magna

Abstract

Exposure to cadmium is gradually increased and its toxicity can be fatal to organisms in aquatic environment. D. magna inhabits in water. It is recommended by OECD guideline to test toxicity of chemicals. Through acute immobilization test, we observed a mobility change of D. magna caused by cadmium chloride exposure. The EC50 value of cadmium chloride was 14.5 ppb. Using D. magna in EC50 value of cadmium, we conducted microarray analysis to investigate differential gene expression and found 247 up- and 146 down-regulated genes. We performed BLAST analysis to identify and understand the meaning of the microarray data in comparative genomics. Comparing common proteins in some species, potential biomarkers and functions are discovered through pathway analysis. Based on differential gene expression of cadmium-treated D. magna, potential biomarkers are identified and investigated by functional network of mammals including human through comparative genomic analysis.