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The Morphological Characteristics of Hemocytes and Gluthatione S-
Transferase Activities in Meretrix meretrix
Revati Ganasan
Supervisor: Dr. Siti Nurtahirah bt Ja’afar
Bachelor of Sciences (Marine Biology)
School of Marine Science and Environment
Haemocytes of Asiatic Hard Clam, M. meretrix has been characterized by its
morphology. The present study indicated that three main cell types were found in
M.meretrix; Granular haemocytes, hyalinocytes and lymphoid cells. The study was
carried out, both by using light microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM).
The GST analysis was also done using the hemolymph of M.meretrix and was
conducted using UV-vis spectrophotometer. However, GST activity tested on two sites
showed that Site 1 was much higher compared to Site 2. The granular haemocytes
had dense nucleus and low ratio of nucleus to cytoplasm, whereas, both hyalinocytes
and lymphoid cells had less-dense nucleus and high nucleus to cytoplasm ratio. In
addition, SEM images of haemocytes showed an irregular structure and granulated
surface. The mechanism of action for GST indicates the oxidative stress level in the
clams of two sites but there was no significant difference between them as (p>0.05).
1842 | UMT UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH DAY 2018