Department of Animal Physiology and Ecotoxicology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Silesia, Bankowa 9, Katowice 40-007, Poland.
Laboratory of Scanning Electron Microscopy, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Silesia, Jagiellońska 28, Katowice 40-007, Poland.
Sci Total Environ. 2019 Mar 15;656:297-306. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.374. Epub 2018 Nov 26.
The study aimed at comparing the effects of short- and long-term exposure of Steatoda grossa female spiders to cadmium on the web's architecture, its energy content, and ultrastructure of ampullate glands. Simple food chain model (medium with 0.25 mM CdCl → Drosophila hydei flies → spider (for 4 weeks or 12 months) was used for the exposure. Analysis of Cd content provided evidence that silk fibers of the web are well protected against its incorporation irrespectively of the exposure period. Long-term exposure to cadmium resulted in the occurrence of numerous autophagosomes with degenerated organelles as well as apoptotic and necrotic cells in the ampullate glands. Concurrently, the individual silk fibers building double and multiple combination complexes were significantly thinner than in the control threads. Moreover, exposed spiders spun net with smaller mean calorific value than did the control individuals. Hence, evaluation of both the diameter of silk fibers and calorific value of the web can serve as biomarkers of the effects caused by exposure of these predators to cadmium.
本研究旨在比较短时间和长时间暴露于镉对粗脚花蛛雌蛛结网结构、能量含量和壶腹腺超微结构的影响。采用简单食物链模型（含 0.25mM CdCl2 的培养基→果蝇海德氏→蜘蛛（暴露 4 周或 12 个月））进行暴露。Cd 含量分析表明，结网的丝纤维很好地保护其免受 Cd 的掺入，而与暴露时间无关。长期暴露于镉会导致壶腹腺中出现大量具有退化细胞器的自噬体以及凋亡和坏死细胞。同时，构建双和多重组合复合物的单个丝纤维明显比对照丝纤维细。此外，暴露的蜘蛛所织的网的平均热值比对照个体小。因此，评估丝纤维的直径和网的热值可以作为这些捕食者暴露于镉的影响的生物标志物。
