Monsoonal impacts of heavy metal pollution in different components of a tropical mangrove island, including mangrove crabs.

Mangroves are blue carbon ecosystems which are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic interventions, particularly heavy metal pollution. The present study evaluates the variation of heavy metal pollution in a tropical mangrove island (a Ramsar site), including different parts of the mangrove tree Sonneratia alba and the mangrove crab Parasesarma plicatum during pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. Heavy metals were detected in all the samples analysed, with significant variation across sampling seasons.

Attempts on producing lymphoid cell line from Penaeus monodon by induction with SV40-T and 12S EIA oncogenes.

In an attempt of in vitro transformation, transfection mediated expression of Simian virus-40 (T) antigen (SV40-T) and transduction mediated expression of Adenovirus type 12 early region 1A (12S E1A) oncogene were performed in Penaeus monodon lymphoid cells. pSV3-neo vector encoding SV40-T oncogene and a recombinant baculovirus BacP2-12S E1A-GFP encoding 12S E1A oncogene under the control of hybrid promoters were used. Electroporation and lipofection mediated transformation of SV40-T in lymphoid cells confirmed the transgene expression by phenotypic variation and the expression of GFP in co-transfection experiment.