CADMIUM-BINDING PROTEIN IN RAINBOW-TROUT

Rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Rich were treated, by intraperitoneal injection, with about 3.0 mg cadmium kg-1 body weight over a 4-day period. An extract prepared from the liver was found to contain a cadmium-binding protein of about 6700 daltons and with greater absorbance in the ultraviolet at 250 nm than at 280 nm. This protein is similar to metallothionein, isolated from a number of other species and may be responsible for the increased resistance to cadmium of rainbow trout pretreated with low levels of the same metal. © 1979.