Effect of arsenic intoxication on proteins and lipids of Labeo rohita gill tissues: An FT-IR study

Abstract

In the present work, an attempt has been made to analyze the arsenic induced biochemical changes in the gill tissues of freshwater fish Labeo rohita using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The FT-IR spectrum of gill tissue is quite complex and contains several bands arising from the contribution of different functional groups belonging to lipids, proteins, and others. FT-IR spectra reveal significant differences in absorbance intensities and areas between the control and arsenic intoxicated gill tissues. The amide I and II peaks observed at 1654 and 1542 cm⁻¹ suggest that the protein is dominated by α-helical structure in the gill tissues. The result further shows that due to arsenic intoxication, α-helical structure decreases significantly with an increase in β-sheet and random coil structures. In conclusion, the present study shows that the gill tissues are vulnerable to arsenic intoxication. The result further suggests that arsenic intoxication induces significant alteration on the major biochemical constituents such as lipids, proteins and nucleic acids, which can be easily evidenced by FT-IR spectroscopy.

Keywords:

• FT-IR
• arsenic
• fish
• gill
• lipids
• proteins and nucleic acids

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful and grateful to the authorities of Annamalai University for providing all necessary facilities to carry out the present work successfully. We also thank the anonymous referees, who significantly contributed to improving the contents of the manuscript.