Metallothioneins and resistance to cadmium poisoning in Drosophila cells.

Toxicity of cadmium on Drosophila cell lines has been studied. Maximal tolerance for cadmium chloride is 10 microM. Metallothioneins are induced in Drosophila cells following cadmium addition. A stable cadmium resistant cell line (Cd R200) has been selected starting from the haploid D clone. The Cd R200 cells are diploid and display metallothionein levels 22 times higher than cells of the original line fully induced with cadmium. The 200 microM CdCl2 tolerance upper limit in Cd R200 line is overcome if L-cysteine is supplemented to the medium. It is thus possible, in the presence of 5 mM L-cysteine, to select cells able to resist 800 microM CdCl2. These cells produce 4 times more metallothioneins than Cd R200 cells.