Biological indicators can be used to assess polluted sites, but their success depends on their specificity. The aim of the present study was to identify a specific cadmium biomarker of the freshwater bivalve Corbicula fluminea. Differential display technique was used to identify new molecular indicators for cadmium exposure. Gene expression of C. fluminea transplanted into a cadmium- and zinc-contaminated river was compared to gene expression of bivalves from a reference site. One differentially expressed band was identified, and the entire cDNA sequence coding for the ribosomal protein S9 (rpS9) was cloned. The rpS9 gene expression was studied by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. After controlled cadmium (15 microg/L) and/or zinc (1 mg/L) laboratory contaminations of the bivalves, this gene was shown to be up-regulated by cadmium and down-regulated by zinc. A 48-d transplantation of animals into a polymetallic field contamination in the Lot river basin (Midi-Pyrénées region, France) showed that rpS9 gene regulation was correlated with the fluctuating cadmium and zinc water contents. To our knowledge, the existence of a gene that is up-regulated by cadmium and repressed by zinc is demonstrated here for the first time.