TITLE:
DNA damage in hemocytes of Schistocerca gregaria (Orthoptera: Acrididae) exposed to contaminated food with cadmium and lead
AUTHORS:
Hesham A. Yousef, Amira Afify, Hany M. Hasan, Afaf Abdel Meguid
KEYWORDS:
Comet Assay; Heavy Metals (Cd, Pb); DNA Damage; Schistocerca gregaria
JOURNAL NAME:
Natural Science,
Vol.2 No.4,
May
7,
2010
ABSTRACT: We measured in a comet assay the damage of DNA in the hemocytes of various stages of the grasshopper Schistocerca gregaria after ex-posing them to various doses of Cd and Pb in the food. The mechanisms of Cd and Pb toxicity for grasshopper are discussed. The accumula-tion of heavy metals and stage of the insect may play important roles in causing the DNA damage. S. gregaria may be considered a valuable bio-indicator for evaluation the genotoxicity of en-vironmental pollutants.