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Acute toxicity of the pesticide methomyl on the topmouth gudgeon (Pseudorasbora parva): mortality and effects on four biomarkers

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Abstract

In this study, the acute toxicity of the pesticide methomyl on the topmouth gudgeon (Pseudorasbora parva) was evaluated using mortality and the activity of the enzymes acetylcholinesterase (AChE), glutathione S-transferases (GSTs), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) as endpoints. LC50 values were 1.228, 0.782, 0.538, and 0.425 mg/l at 24, 48, 72, and 96 h of exposure, respectively. Methomyl caused a sharp decrease in specific activity of brain AChE around 48% at concentrations between 0.043 and 0.213 mg/l. A reduction higher than 40% in liver GST activity at concentrations between 0.085 and 0.213 mg/l was found, whereas no significant effects were observed in intestinal GST. A significant concentration-dependent decrease of GOT activity was found after 24 h of exposure to the pesticide but not after 96 h. No significant effects on GPT activity were observed. These results indicate that at the concentrations tested, methomyl is acutely toxic to the species P. parva, causing mortality, neurotoxic effects, and changes in some hepatic enzymes.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by NSFB (contract/grant number: 6062018) and NSFC (contract/grant number: 30170621 and 39970496).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100094, P.R. China

    Huixian Li, Xiwu Gao & Jiao Chen

  2. Center of Agrochemicals for Biological and Environmental Technology, Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, 100026, P.R. China

    Hui Jiang, Xiaojun Wang, Weigang Qu & Ronghua Lin

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  1. Huixian Li
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  2. Hui Jiang
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  3. Xiwu Gao
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  4. Xiaojun Wang
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  5. Weigang Qu
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  6. Ronghua Lin
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  7. Jiao Chen
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Correspondence to Xiwu Gao.

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Li, H., Jiang, H., Gao, X. et al. Acute toxicity of the pesticide methomyl on the topmouth gudgeon (Pseudorasbora parva): mortality and effects on four biomarkers. Fish Physiol Biochem 34, 209–216 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-007-9178-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-007-9178-x

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