Role of the metallothioneins in metal regulation by the guillemot Uria aalge

peer reviewedGuillemots, like other seabird species living in the North Sea, appear to be heavily contaminated by copper. Metallothioneins are present in both liver and kidney but, at least in the specimens stranded along the Belgian coast, fail to maintain constant the copper, zinc and cadmium load of the high molecular weight soluble proteins of both organs, stressing the potential toxic role of these metals, mainly copper