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The use of N-substituted imidazoles is widespread, and imidazole and triazole fungicides have been detected in the aquatic environment and shown to bioaccumulate in fish. We have investigated effects of the model imidazole, ketoconazole, on drug-metabolizing cytochrome P450 (CYP) forms. We focused on cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) and cytochrome P4503A (CYP3A) expression and activities in juvenile rainbow trout and in adult killifish. The CYP1A expression (mRNA, protein) and activity was induced in rainbow trout, whereas in killifish no effect of ketoconazole on CYP1A protein expression was observed. A biphasic dose-response relationship was observed between ketoconazole exposure and hepatic CYP1A-mediated ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity in rainbow trout in vitro and in vivo, implying that higher doses of ketoconazole inhibit CYP1A activities. Slight induction of CYP3A protein levels was observed in rainbow trout exposed in vivo to ketoconazole. However, the CYP3A-mediated benzyloxy-4-[trifluoromethyl]-coumarin (BFC) O-debenzyloxylase activity was reduced in rainbow trout and killifish treated with ketoconazole. In vitro inhibition studies confirmed that ketoconazole was a potent inhibitor of both CYP3A and CYP1A enzyme activities in these species. This study showed that ketoconazole induced CYP1A and CYP3A expression in rainbow trout. However, the most pronounced effect of ketoconazole was a 60 to 90% decrease in CYP3A catalytic activities in rainbow trout and in killifish.

Coupled gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection analyses of ovipositor extracts of calling Contarinia nasturtii females revealed two compounds that elicited responses from antennae of male midges. Using synthetic reference samples, these components were identified by gas chromatography mass spectrometry and enantioselective GC as (2S,9S)-diacetoxyundecane and (2S,10S)-diacetoxyundecane. In addition, trace amounts of 2-acetoxyundecane were found in ovipositor extracts, and the (S)-enantiomer was synthesized. When tested in the wind tunnel, a blend of 5 ng (2S,9S)-diacetoxyundecane and 10 ng (2S,10S)-diacetoxyundecane (mimicking the ratio found in the extracts) did not attract any of the males tested, but when 0.1 ng (S)-2-acetoxyundecane was added to the blend, 86.8% of the males were attracted to the bait. Three-component blends with lower or higher relative concentrations than 1% of (S)-2-acetoxyundecane [relative to (2S,10S)-diacetoxyundecane] were less attractive. In a field trapping experiment with released laboratory-reared C. nasturtii adults, traps baited with 500:1000:10 ng of (2S,9S)-diacetoxyundecane/(2S,10S)-diacetoxyundecane/(S)-2-acetoxyundecane applied to rubber septa or dental cotton rolls were tested. Traps without dispensers were used as controls. All three treatments were tested at 20 and 50 cm above ground. The estimated recapture rate was 30-50%, and 81.9% of the recaptured males were caught in traps positioned at 20 cm above ground, and 88.4% in traps with dental cotton rolls as dispensers.

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Cytochrome P450 genes (CYP) constitute a superfamily with members known from the Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. The CYP3 gene family includes the CYP3A and CYP3B subfamilies. Members of the CYP3A subfamily represent the dominant CYP forms expressed in the digestive and respiratory tracts of vertebrates. The CYP3A enzymes metabolize a wide variety of chemically diverse lipophilic organic compounds. To understand vertebrate CYP3 diversity better, we determined the killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) CYP3A30 and CYP3A56 and the ball python (Python regius) CYP3A42 sequences. We performed phylogenetic analyses of 45 vertebrate CYP3 amino acid sequences using a Bayesian approach. Our analyses indicate that teleost, diapsid, and mammalian CYP3A genes have undergone independent diversification and that the ancestral vertebrate genome contained a single CYP3A gene. Most CYP3A diversity is the product of recent gene duplication events. There is strong support for placement of the guinea pig CYP3A genes within the rodent CYP3A diversification. The rat, mouse, and hamster CYP3A genes are mixed among several rodent CYP3A subclades, indicative of a complex history involving speciation and gene duplication.

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