ArticlePDF Available

Life Cycle Stages and Length of Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Exposed to DDT

Authors:
  • Checkorphan-Access Association AG

Abstract and Figures

able up to now. The zebrafish (Danio rerio (D. rerio)) is a suitable model for full life cycle assessments because zebrafish takes only 3-4 months to reach the sexual maturity. Moreover, they can be main- tained in a laboratory environment at low cost and remain sexually active throughout the year. The test employed in this study involved expo- sure of zebrafish to the toxin from the fertilized egg up to the mature animal. The effect on reproduction was assessed by examination of mortality, hatching rate, body length and development of the offspring. This study encompassed the examination of two generations of fish over a period of approximately 8 months. This was regarded necessary to obtain suf- ficient information on the duration of each life stage and the deleterious effect of the chemical on the sub- sequent generation. The parameters were also inves- tigated in the offspring of exposed parents that were subsequently reared in a toxin-free environment. The second generation was assessed up to six weeks and the difference with offspring which remained ex- posed to DDT was determined.
Content may be subject to copyright.
... In the present study, exposed fish were significantly heavier than controls in F0 generation, while, in contrast, the F1 generation weighed less, indicating that the accelerated puberty maturation was triggered by factor(s) other than growth. In a previous study on zebrafish, a dose-dependent delay of sexual maturity was seen after exposure to DDT (Njiwa et al., 2004). Exposure to alkylphenols, a chemical group known to possess estrogenic properties, was reported to delay maturation in Atlantic cod after exposure to high doses and to accelerate puberty after exposure to low doses (Meier et al., 2007(Meier et al., , 2011. ...
... The yolk of ovulated teleost oocytes contains lipophilic hormones, and thus steroid hormones are maternally provided to the zygote (Tokarz et al., 2013). Accordingly, growth reduction in offspring was noted after maternal exposure of zebrafish to DDT (Njiwa et al., 2004). Further, when zebrafish were exposed chronically to commercial BDE mixture DE-71 from 2 h post fertilization until adulthood, no marked effects on growth were seen in the F0 generation. ...
Article
Full-text available
A series of studies have assessed the occurrence, levels, and potential adverse effects of persistent organic pollutants (POP) in fish from Lake Mjøsa. In this lake, high levels of various POP were detected in biota. Fish from the nearby Lake Losna contain background levels of POP and served as reference (controls) in these studies. Significantly higher prevalence of mycobacteriosis and pathological changes were documented in burbot (Lota lota) from Mjøsa compared to burbot from Losna. Further, transcriptional profiling identified changes in gene expression in burbot from Mjøsa compared to burbot from Losna associated with drug metabolism enzymes and oxidative stress. POP extracted from burbot liver oil from the two lakes was used to expose zebrafish (Danio rerio) during two consecutive generations. During both generations, POP mixtures from both lakes increased the rate of mortality, induced earlier onset of puberty, and skewed sex ratio toward males. However, opposite effects on weight gain were found in exposure groups compared to controls during the two generations. Exposure to POP from both lakes was associated with suppression of ovarian follicle development. Analyses of genome-wide transcription profiling identified functional networks of genes associated with weight homeostasis, steroid hormone functions, and insulin signaling. In human cell studies using adrenocortical H295R and primary porcine theca and granulosa cells, exposure to lake extracts from both populations modulated steroid hormone production with significant difference from controls. The results suggest that POP from both lakes may possess the potential to induce endocrine disruption and may adversely affect health in wild fish.
... Advantages over other animal models include high fecundity, with ZF laying 200e300 eggs per week, enabling larger sample sizes and more significant results (Hoo et al., 2016). ZF also reach sexual maturity in just 3e4 months and have an average lifespan of 3e4 years, contributing to shorter experimental timelines and reduced costs (Gilbert et al., 2013;Njiwa et al., 2004). Furthermore, ZF husbandry and maintenance protocols are simpler and less complicated compared to rodents and nonhuman primates (Avdesh et al., 2012). ...
... Among these, we performed 3 different age comparisons denoted as early aging (mature vs. aged), late aging (mature vs. old-age), and longevity (aged vs. old-age) (see Figure 1B). Information on maturation and survival of the 4 species was underlying different sources: for H. sapiens [22][23][24]; for M. musculus [25][26][27][28]; for D. rerio [29][30][31][32]; and for N. furzeri [19,[33][34][35]. ...
Article
Full-text available
The circadian clock system influences the biology of life by establishing circadian rhythms in organisms, tissues, and cells, thus regulating essential biological processes based on the day/night cycle. Circadian rhythms change over a lifetime due to maturation and aging, and disturbances in the control of the circadian system are associated with several age-related pathologies. However, the impact of chronobiology and the circadian system on healthy organ and tissue aging remains largely unknown. Whether aging-related changes of the circadian system’s regulation follow a conserved pattern across different species and tissues, hence representing a common driving force of aging, is unclear. Based on a cross-sectional transcriptome analysis covering 329 RNA-Seq libraries, we provide indications that the circadian system is subjected to aging-related gene alterations shared between evolutionarily distinct species, such as Homo sapiens, Mus musculus, Danio rerio, and Nothobranchius furzeri. We discovered differentially expressed genes by comparing tissue-specific transcriptional profiles of mature, aged, and old-age individuals and report on six genes (per2, dec2, cirp, klf10, nfil3, and dbp) of the circadian system, which show conserved aging-related expression patterns in four organs of the species examined. Our results illustrate how the circadian system and aging might influence each other in various tissues over a long lifespan and conceptually complement previous studies tracking short-term diurnal and nocturnal gene expression oscillations.
... Polybrominated diphenyl ethers; PBDEs) (Hahladakis et al., 2018) and many are carcinogenic or endocrine-disrupting (Mathieu-Denoncourt et al., 2015;Turusov et al., 2002), even at concentrations much lower than those found in the environment. For example, for DDTs, typical environmental values may still be above 100 ppb (Barakat et al., 2013), while exposure to just 0.05 ppb led to reduced survivability and hatchability in zebrafish (Njiwa et al., 2004). For some of these pollutants, biodegradation is possible, either by microbial communities and consortia or isolated organisms (Ahuactzin-Pérez et al., 2016;Hesselsoe et al., 2005;Stanislauskienė et al., 2011), but the extent to which this occurs in the marine environment is largely unknown (Liang et al., 2008;Paluselli et al., 2019;Yang et al., 2018). ...
Thesis
Full-text available
Recalcitrant polymers are widely distributed in the marine environment. This includes natural polymers, such as chitin, but also synthetic polymers such as plastics, which are becoming increasingly abundant and for which biodegradation is uncertain. Distribution of labour in microbial communities commonly evolves in nature, particularly for arduous processes, suggesting that a community may be better at degrading recalcitrant compounds than individual microorganisms. Microbial communities that colonise surfaces and polymers in the marine environment are also known to go through distinct stages of community succession, generally characterised as: i) the attachment phase, defined by an abundance of organisms that are good at colonising; ii) the selection phase, which sees an increase in the abundance of organisms that are good at degrading that substrate; and iii) the succession phase, where efficient degraders are overtaken by cheaters and grazers. Here, it was hypothesised that the general principles of microbial community succession also apply to the colonisation of and growth on, plastics. The majority of studies that investigate the “Plastisphere” – the microorganisms found colonising plastics – examine these at only one time point and the incubation time is often not known, nor whether these communities are degrading the plastics, their associated additives and contaminants, or neither. First, the method of artificial selection was applied to whole microbial communities in order to improve the ability of a microbial community to degrade the natural polymer chitin. It was shown that only when the incubation time was continuously optimised was there an increase in chitinase activity and therefore chitin degradation and this was predominantly due to a shift in the microbial community from the Gammaproteobacteria – active chitin degraders in this case – to the Alphaproteobacteria, which merely possessed the ability to utilise the sub-products of chitin degradation. Application of the artificial selection method requires knowledge of the enzymes used for the process of interest, a high-throughput test for relevant enzymatic activity, knowledge of approximate appropriate incubation times and, as was shown here, constant optimisation of incubation times between selections. Little is currently known about the microbial degradation of plastics in the marine environment, including how long degradation may take and when typical stages of biofilm development occur. Microbial community succession was therefore characterised across six weeks of incubation with different types of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), with the aim of identifying the key stages of microbial community succession. This showed that the communities were more distinct and also enriched with potential PET-degraders, at earlier stages of incubation and had converged by the end of the incubation period, as found in environmental Plastisphere studies when time is examined as a factor. Also, the ability of two marine isolates to degrade PET was characterised using a combined proteogenomic approach and the enzymes used by one of these bacteria to degrade PET were tentatively identified, although the pathway used by the second bacterium was not clear. Finally, the ability of marine bacteria to degrade three common plastic additives, i.e. plasticizers, was also investigated. A proteogenomic approach was again used to characterise the ability of two marine isolates to degrade two phthalic acid ester plasticizers and one citrate plasticizer and this degradation was confirmed by metabolomics. This revealed different mechanisms for the degradation of the two phthalic acid ester plasticizers and also identified tentative mechanisms for degradation of the citrate plasticizer for the first time. This thesis represents a significant step forwards in our understanding of the pathways used for the degradation of recalcitrant compounds by several bacterial isolates, as well as a deeper understanding of the microbial processes and colonisation dynamics that govern the degradation of these compounds in the marine environment.
... This gives an excellent advantage to this species because a higher sample size can be applied to each experiment and more significant results can be achieved. Besides that, zebrafish only need 3-4 months to achieve sexual maturity (Njiwa et al., 2004) and its average life span is only up to 3-4 years (Gilbert et al., 2013). The short life cycle can substantially reduce the time taken and lower the cost of an experiment, especially when the experimental design requires investigation on a full developmental process. ...
Article
Full-text available
The second most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder in the elderly is Parkinson’s disease (PD). Its etiology is unclear and there are no available disease-modifying medicines. Therefore, more evidence is required concerning its pathogenesis. The use of the neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) is the basis of most animal models of PD. MPTP is metabolized by monoamine oxidase B (MAO B) to MPP + and induces the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra in mammals. Zebrafish have been commonly used in developmental biology as a model organism, but owing to its perfect mix of properties, it is now emerging as a model for human diseases. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are cheap and easy to sustain, evolve rapidly, breed transparent embryos in large amounts, and are readily manipulated by different methods, particularly genetic ones. Furthermore, zebrafish are vertebrate species and mammalian findings obtained from zebrafish may be more applicable than those derived from genetic models of invertebrates such as Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans. The resemblance cannot be taken for granted, however. The goal of the present review article is to highlight the promise of zebrafish as a PD animal model. As its aminergic structures, MPTP mode of action, and PINK1 roles mimic those of mammalians, zebrafish seems to be a viable model for studying PD. The roles of zebrafish MAO, however, vary from those of the two types of MAO present in mammals. The benefits unique to zebrafish, such as the ability to perform large-scale genetic or drug screens, should be exploited in future experiments utilizing zebrafish PD models.
... Less mutant available than Drosophila. Reverse genetic screening is not use in the case of mouse (expect knockout) References [34][35][36]38,6,24,30,39,40,44,48,56,[154][155][156][157][158][159][160] [154,160-178] [48,154,160,[179][180][181][182][183][184][185][186][187][188][189][190][191][192][193][194][195] [196][197][198][199][200][201] +, ++, +++, ++++, relative strength of the model in each category. ...
Article
Plants/plant-derived components have been used from ancient times to treat/cure several human diseases. Plants and their parts possess several chemical components that play the vital role in the improvement of human health and their life expectancy. Allopathic medicines have been playing a key role in the treatment of several diseases. Though allopathic medicines provide fast relief, long time consumption cause serious health concerns such as hyperallergic reactions, liver damage, etc. So, the study of medicinal plants which rarely cause any side effect is very important to mankind. Plants contain many health benefit properties like antioxidant, anti-aging, neuroprotective, anti-genotoxic, anti-mutagenic and bioinsecticidal activity. Thus, identification of pharmacological properties of plants/plant-derived components are of utmost importance to be explored. Several model organisms have been used to identify the pharmacological properties of the different plants or active components therein and Drosophila is one of them. Drosophila melanogaster “fruit fly” is a well understood, high-throughput model organism being used more than 110 years to study the different biological aspects related to the development and diseases. Most of the developmental and cell signaling pathways and ∼75% human disease-related genes are conserved between human and Drosophila. Using Drosophila, one can easily analyze the pharmacological properties of plants/plant-derived components by performing several assays available with flies such as survivorship, locomotor, antioxidant, cell death, etc. The current review focuses on the potential of Drosophila melanogaster for the identification of medicinal/pharmacological properties associated with plants/plant-derived components.
... Its small size, external development, high fecundity, embryo transparency, short generation time, easy management, physiological similarity to mammals and the amount of research tools available, have turned this species into one of the main model organisms for developmental studies [1][2][3]. In the last two decades the use of this research model has dramatically widespread to various fields of biological sciences, being currently used in ecotoxicology [4][5], neurosciences [6][7], behavior [8][9][10][11], cancer [12][13][14], genetics [15], nutrition [16][17][18][19][20], aquaculture [19,21], as a model for human diseases [22][23][24], drug discovery [25], among others [26][27][28]. ...
Article
Full-text available
Çalışma başlangıcında 0.30±0.04g olan yavru dönemini yeni tamamlamış toplam 180 adet zebra balığı 20x30x40cm boyutlarında 12 adet akvaryuma 15’er adet balık stoku yapılacak şekilde 60 gün süre ile besleme yapılmıştır. Çalışma sonucunda en düşük balık ağırlığı 0.67±0.05 g ve en yüksek balık ağırlığı 0.76±0.04g olduğu ölçümlerle tespit edilmiştir. Araştırmada besin içerikleri ve besin değerleri birbirinden farklı dört ticari yem kullanıldı. Çalışma sonunda gruplar arasında büyüme parametrelerinde istatistiksel açıdan gruplar arasında önemli farklar tespit edildi (P<0.05). Yaşama oranları üzerinde etkilerinin de farklı olduğu görüldü (P<0.05). Farklı ticari yemlerin içeriğinde bulunan bileşenler ile yemin balıklar üzerindeki büyüme performansını arttırdığı, daha yüksek bir yaşama oranı başarısına ulaşılabildiği görüldü. Çalışmamızda özellikle Tetra Min Pul yemi verilen balıklarda anlamlı olarak bir farklılığın olduğu görülmektedir.
Article
Tris (2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), an emerging environmental pollutant, has been frequently detected in natural waters. The objective of this study was to investigate possible parental transfer of TCEP and transgenerational effects on the early development and thyroid hormone homeostasis in F1 larvae following parental whole life-cycle exposure to TCEP. To this end, zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos were exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations (0.8, 4, 20 and 100 μg/L) of TCEP for 120 days until sexual maturation. Parental exposure to TCEP resulted in significant levels of TCEP, developmental toxicity including decreased survival and final hatching rates, accelerated heart rate and elevated malformation rate, as well as induction of oxidative stress and cell apoptosis in F1 offspring. In F1 eggs, declined thyroxin (T4) levels were observed, consistent with those in plasma of F0 adult females, indicating the maternal transfer of thyroid endocrine disruption to the offspring. In addition, mRNA levels of several genes along the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis were significantly modified in F1 larvae, which could be linked to transgenerational developmental toxicity and thyroid hormone disruption. For the first time, we revealed that the parental exposure to environmentally relevant levels of TCEP could cause developmental toxicity and thyroid endocrine disruption in subsequent unexposed generation.
Article
In the recent past, Caenorhabditis elegans has emerged as one of the leading nematode models for studying host–microbe interactions on molecular, cellular, or organismal levels. In general, morphological and functional similarities of the gut of C. elegans with respect to that of human has brought in speculations on the study of the intestinal microbiota. On the other hand, probiotics have proved their efficacy in metabolism, development, and pathogenesis thereby inducing an immune response in C. elegans. Nurturing C. elegans with probiotics has led to immunomodulatory effects in the intestinal microbiota, proposing C. elegans as one of the in vivo screening criteria to select potential probiotic bacteria for host health-promoting factors. The major prospect of these probiotics is to exert longevity toward the host in diverse environmental conditions. The extent of research on probiotic metabolism has shed light on mechanisms of the immunomodulatory effect exerted by the nematode model. This review discusses various aspects of the effects of probiotics in improving the health and mechanisms involved in conferring immunity in C. elegans.
Article
Toxicity data from 25 years of fish life cycle chronic, partial chronic and early life stage tests are examined to determine the utility of the standard fish chronic toxicity endpoints, in particular the growth response, to chemical hazard evaluations. The 173 tests include exposure to metals, pesticides, unclassified organics, inorganic compounds, detergent chemicals and complex effluents. Fry survival was significantly reduced in 57% of all tests at the lowest effect concentration. Fry growth was reduced in 36% and egg hatching in 19% of the tests. Only 60% of the tests include exposure of adult organisms. Reproduction was reduced in 30% of these tests. Adult survival (13%) and growth (5%) were seldom reduced at the lowest effect concentration. Fry survival and growth were very often correlated as equally sensitive. Fry growth was the single most sensitive response in only 14% of the tests reported. In the absence of the growth response data for these 20 chemicals/effluents, the fry survival data would have provided MATC values within a factor of 2 to 7 (). The conclusion is that, as presently derived, the growth response could be deleted from routine applications of the fish early life stage test. The net result would be a significant reduction in the duration and cost of screening tests with no appreciable impact on estimating MATCs for chemical hazard assessments. Possible explanations for the insensitivity of the standard growth response, alternatives, and other relevant observations of this data base are discussed.
Article
This study describes a long-term test over three generations, using zebrafish (Brachydanio rerio) as the test species and concentrations of 1, 0.2, and 0.04 mg/L 4-chloroaniline (CA) as a model substance. The effect of the compound on the ecologically important parameters reproduction and growth was the focus of interest. Reduction in egg release by fish raised under CA was the most sensitive parameter in the test. Compared to the toxic threshold concentration for growth (0.4 mg/L), egg release was affected by a ten-fold lower concentration (0.04 mg/L). This study demonstrates that a long-term test is still the most appropriate method to assess the chronic toxicity of a substance on fish. A chronic toxicity test is proposed which comprises two generations, with the zebrafish as test species.
Article
Acute and long-term toxicity of 3,4-dichloroaniline and lindane to zebrafish were examined in tap water and water from the Rhine River and the toxicity of the binary mixture 3,4-dichloroaniline/lindane in tap water was investigated. The acute toxicity of 3,4-dichloroaniline and lindane was not influenced by the complex matrix of river water compared with tap water. The binary mixture of 3,4-dichloroaniline and lindane demonstrated an additive effect in the acute test. The survival rate of early life stages in river water was reduced by lindane (80 micrograms/liter), whereas the effects of 3,4-dichloroaniline on survival and growth were visible but not significant. The binary mixture of 2 micrograms/liter, 3,4-dichloroaniline and 40 micrograms/liter lindane in tap water had an influence on growth on the early life stages of zebrafish.
Environment and Development. Effects of pesticides on Fauna and Flora, International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna
  • P Müller
Müller, P. (1988) Environment and Development. Effects of pesticides on Fauna and Flora, International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna. SM. 287/40, pp. 11-27.
Environmental monitoring handbook for tsetse control operations
  • P Nagel
Nagel, P. (1995) Environmental monitoring handbook for tsetse control operations, Margraf Verlag, Ministry of the Environment, Germany.
In situ investigations of the toxicity to identify some biosensors during exposure to Deltamethrin
  • J Weyrich
Weyrich, J. (1994) In situ investigations of the toxicity to identify some biosensors during exposure to Deltamethrin. In ULV applications for the control of tsetse fly in North Zimbabwe, Dissertation, Centre for Environmental Research, University of Saarland, Saarbrücken, Germany, 150pp.