Reversible arrest of Artemia development by cadmium

Under normal conditions, an encysted Artemia embryo undergoes a developmental process that culminates in the gradual, uninterrupted emergence of the prenauplius from the cyst. The hatching membrane surrounding the emerged organism is then ruptured, usually beginning at the posterior end, and a motile nauplius is released. We have observed this process microscopically in the presence and absence of cadmium and report that cadmium disrupts Artemia development in a dose–dependent manner. At 0.1 μM, cadmium slows emergence but nauplii eventually resume rellatively normal development. Emergence and hatching are either delayed considerably or almost entirely prevented at 1 μM cadmium. Cadmium at 10 μM, completely arrests emergence but development continues at a reduced rate, eventually resulting in hatching of some organisms without need for complete emergence. If organisms exposed to 10 μM cadmium are washed, abnormally shaped emerged forms are released and many of these eventually hatch, although in an unusual manner. Cadmium at 10 μM causes complete, rapid precipitation of purified Artemia tubulin at 0 °C but cadmium at the lower concentrations tested has no apparent inhibitory effect on microtubule assembly. Although we do not know the actual cadmium–induced physiological changes that result in abnormal development of Artemia, our results indicate that we can now examine the interdependence of morphological and molecular aspects of Artemia development in a way not previously possible.