Abstract
Manganese (Mn) is one of the common pollutants found in aquatic environment that are difficult to destroy and very
persistent in the water body. Excessive levels of Mn in the aquatic environment have threatened some of the aquatic
organisms including free-living Acanthamoeba sp. In this study, Mn was assessed for its cytotoxicity and
genotoxicity on Acanthamoeba sp. isolated from Setiu Wetland, Terengganu. IC50 value of Mn obtained was 24 ppm
while morphological observation indicates that Acanthamoeba sp. underwent apoptotic and necrotic mode of cell
death after exposure to Mn for 24 hours at 30°C. This metal is also able to induce mild genotoxicity towards the
DNA of Acanthamoeba sp.
© 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Peer-review under responsibility of organizing committee of Environmental Forensics Research Centre, Faculty of
Environmental Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Keywords: Cytotoxicity; genotoxicity; alkaline comet assay; heavy metal; scanning electron microscopy