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Acetochlor affects zebrafish ovarian development by producing estrogen effects and inducing oxidative stress

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Abstract

Acetochlor is one of the most widely used pesticides worldwide and widely distributed in the water environment. However, studies on the reproductive influence of acetochlor are still limited. To investigate the impact and potential mechanism of acetochlor on fish ovarian development, zebrafish were utilized as experiment models. The ovarian histology, ovarian development-related genes, and plasma oxidative stress-related indexes were investigated following acetochlor (at nominal concentration 1, 10, and 100 μg/L) exposure for 7 and 21 days. Results showed that low-dose acetochlor had estrogen effect and induced zebrafish estradiol (E2) and ovarian vitellogenin (Vtg) synthesis and promoted ovarian development, while long-term exposure to higher doses of acetochlor reduced the ability of ovarian resistance to oxidative stress and destroyed the development of the ovary. Moreover, bone morphogenetic protein 15 (bmp15) and growth differentiation factor 9 (gdf9) were also involved in the influence of acetochlor on the ovarian development of zebrafish.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31800435).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, 48 Wenhui Road, Yangzhou, 225009, Jiangsu, China

    Yingying Zhang, Wen Xue, Runze Long, Hui Yang & Wenzhi Wei

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  1. Yingying Zhang
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  2. Wen Xue
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  3. Runze Long
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  4. Hui Yang
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  5. Wenzhi Wei
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Correspondence to Wenzhi Wei.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

All experimental procedures were approved by the animal ethics committee of Yangzhou University. Fish were humanely treated during the whole experiment.

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Responsible Editor: Cinta Porte

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Zhang, Y., Xue, W., Long, R. et al. Acetochlor affects zebrafish ovarian development by producing estrogen effects and inducing oxidative stress. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 27688–27696 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09050-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09050-2

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