Abstract
Heavy metals take route to higher trophic levels by first of all accumulating in harvestable parts of
plants like leaves. Higher the trophic level the amount of metal increase and affect every higher
trophic level. Silkworm (Bombyx mori) is used as template to assess the biotransformation of heavy
metal in a food chain from soil to plant then insect. The mulberry plants were irrigated with synthetic
effluent of Cr (VI) (100mg/L with pH 4.5) and the treated soil, mulberry plant leaves, silkworm body,
cuticle, alimentary canal, silk glands, silk cocoons and their excreta were sampled to check Cr (VI)
contents accumulated by using atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). The concentration of Cr (VI)
in soil and mulberry leaves tend to increase with increase in irrigation times. On the other hand, the
contents of Cr (VI) in B. mori larvae and the excreta were in considerable amount but decrease with
the increase in larval instars, yet most of Cr (VI) remains in its body. Cr (VI) found in B. mori body
was liable for toxic effects on its life cycle and the body growth and silk production was also inhibited
under the effect of Cr (VI) accumulation. A considerable amount of Cr (VI) was also found deposited
in the silk glands, cuticle and alimentary canal, and concentration of Cr (VI) in larval body increased
B. mori death rate significantly.
Muhammad Arslan Shoukat, Shahzad Ashraf, Muazzam Ali, Zafar Iqbal, Mirza Imran Shahzad, Nuzhat Sial, Zahra Batool. (2014) THE EFFECT OF Cr (VI) ON SILK WORM (BOMBYX MORI) FED ON IN VITRO ACCUMULATED MULBERRY LEAVES, Asian Journal of Agriculture and Biology, Volume 2, Issue 2.
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