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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Rearing the Cabbage White Butterfly (Pieris rapae) in Controlled Conditions: A Case Study with Heavy Metal Tolerance
Published on: August 18, 2023
Effects of heavy metals on insect immunocompetent cells
Joanna Borowska1, Elżbieta Pyza
1Department of Cytology and Histology, Institute of Zoology, Jagiellonian University, Ingardena 6, 30-060 Kraków, Poland.
Abstract:
The influence of the following heavy metals, copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb), on haemocytes of the house fly Musca domestica L. was studied under laboratory conditions. House fly larvae were exposed to low or high, semi-lethal concentrations of metals. These particular metals were selected because they are present in polluted environments in Poland. In addition, we studied expression of the stress proteins HSP70 and HSP72 in haemocytes collected from larvae that had been exposed to heavy metal. The obtained results showed changes in haemocytes morphology and phagocytotic plasticity in the experimental flies in comparison to control. The number of prohaemocytes, regarded as stem cells, increased, while granulocytes, responsible for phagocytosis, decreased. However, we have not detected any clear changes in expression of HSP70 or HSP72 in flies treated with low or high concentrations of the heavy metals.
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