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The four cornerstones of Evolutionary Toxicology

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Abstract

Evolutionary Toxicology is the study of the effects of chemical pollutants on the genetics of natural populations. Research in Evolutionary Toxicology uses experimental designs familiar to the ecotoxicologist with matched reference and contaminated sites and the selection of sentinel species. It uses the methods of molecular genetics and population genetics, and is based on the theories and concepts of evolutionary biology and conservation genetics. Although it is a relatively young field, interest is rapidly growing among ecotoxicologists and more and more field studies and even controlled laboratory experiments are appearing in the literature. A number of population genetic impacts have been observed in organisms exposed to pollutants which I refer to here as the four cornerstones of Evolutionary Toxicology. These include (1) genome-wide changes in genetic diversity, (2) changes in allelic or genotypic frequencies caused by contaminant-induced selection acting at survivorship loci, (3) changes in dispersal patterns or gene flow which alter the genetic relationships among populations, and (4) changes in allelic or genotypic frequencies caused by increased mutation rates. It is concluded that population genetic impacts of pollution exposure are emergent effects that are not necessarily predictable from the mode of toxicity of the pollutant. Thus, to attribute an effect to a particular contaminant requires a careful experimental design which includes selection of appropriate reference sites, detailed chemistry analyses of environmental samples and tissues, and the use of appropriate biomarkers to establish exposure and effect. This paper describes the field of Evolutionary Toxicology and discusses relevant field studies and their findings.

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Acknowledgments

The ideas I present in this paper have been developed over the past 35 years which have been devoted to the study of the genetics, evolution, and ecotoxicology of wildlife. I thank the numerous students and research collaborators with whom I have had the honor of working, especially Robert Baker, Karen McBee, Mike Smolen, Barrett Lyne, Jeff Wickliffe, Cole Matson, Brian Rinner, Carol Swartz, Jim Rogers, Chris Theodorakis, Amy Baird, Chris Somers, the late KC Donnelly, Tom Custer, Miguel Mora, Theo Colborn, Tommy McDonald, and Lee Shugart. To all of you, and the many others who work in this field, I am forever in your debt for helping me to better understand Evolutionary Toxicology, incomplete though this understanding most certainly is. I hope I have presented your work fairly.

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  1. Department of Forestry and Natural Resources and Center for the Environment, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    John W. Bickham

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  1. John W. Bickham
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Correspondence to John W. Bickham.

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Bickham, J.W. The four cornerstones of Evolutionary Toxicology. Ecotoxicology 20, 497–502 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-011-0636-y

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