Evaluation of Micronuclei and Haematological Profiles as Genotoxic Assays in Channa Punctatus Exposed to Malathion

Different genetic biomarkers have been used to evaluate the mutagenic effects of pollutants such as agriculture pesticide and also a great variety of chemicals delivered on the environment by human activities. This way, the aim of present study was to evaluate the effect of agriculture pesticide in Channa punctatus through the micronucleus test as cytogenetic parameter and Haematological studies. Live specimen of Channa punctatus (n=96) were acclimatised in aquaria before experiments. Fishes were kept separately in 1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 ppm malathion for three days. Control fishes were not subjected to any treatment. Blood collected from caudal vein was smeared on clean slides, fixed in methanol and stained with 2% Giemsa. Mean frequency of micronuclei observed was 0.06±0.007, 0.11±0.009, 0.28±0.014 and 0.42±0.015 in control, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 ppm malathion respectively. There was decrease in red blood cell (RBC) count (3.24, 2.87 and 1.19, 10 6 mm -3 ) and haemoglobin content (10.5, 8.63 and 5.63 g/dl) when compared to the control (RBC5.36, 10 6 mm 3 and13.6 g/dl). Whereas the number of white blood cells (WBC) increased (4.63, 4.73 and 4.85, mm 3 x 10 3 ) in malathion treated fishes when compared to the control (4.56 mm 3 x 10 3 ). There was a progressive increase in the percentage of micronuclei with increases in the intensity of exposure. Study shows that malathion is a clastogenic chemical and these assays can be used as bioassays for monitoring pollution in aquatic medium.