EFFECT OF COMBINED COPPER, ZINC, CHROMIUM AND SELENIUM BY ORTHOGONAL ARRAY DESIGN ON ALKALINE-PHOSPHATASE ACTIVITY IN LIVER OF THE RED-SEA BREAM, CHRYSOPHRYS MAJOR

Red sea bream, Chrysophrys major, were obtained from a marine fish cag e-culture farm located in Hoshao Island near Xiamen, People's Republic of China, in August, 1990. Orthogonal array design was used to invest igate the activating and inhibitory effects of the combination of wate rborne Cu, Zn, Cr(VI) and Se(VI) on alkaline phosphatase (APase) activ ity in liver of C. major. The results obtained demonstrated that (1) t he APase activity was significantly increased when Zn was at the level of 100 mu g/l whereas no change was found when Zn was at 500 mu g/l; (2) Cu at 20 mu g/l increased APase activity whereas Cu at 100 mu g/l significantly inhibited APase activity; (3) the effect of Se(VI) on AP ase activity was minimal. However, Se(VI) could suppress the action of Cu on APase activity; and (4) Cr(VI) at concentrations of 0-500 mu g/ l had little effect on APase activity. In addition, the results also s howed that the duration of exposure was independent of the effects of the combination of waterborne metals on APase activity and no interact ive effects of Zn X Se(VI) or Cu X Zn on APase activity were observed.