The unpredictable toxicity of insecticides may cause behavior disorder of biological organisms. In order to assess the role of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in swimming behavior of Daphnia magna, a correlation analysis of both parameters in 24 h exposure of deltamethrin (DM) and methomyl (MT) was investigated. The behavior responses of D. magna in DM (13.36 μg/L and 33.40 μg/L) and MT (19.66 μg/L and 49.15 μg/L) suggested that recovery behavior in the adjustment phase was crucial, and behavior homeostasis provided them with an optimal way to achieve a wider tolerance against environmental stress. During the experiment, positive effects on AChE activity occurred in the beginning of the exposure. Even though the de novo synthesis of AChE in D. magna might help it recover, the AChE inhibition in different treatments could be observed. Some induction effects on AChE activity at the beginning of exposure occurred, and a 50% decrease may cause toxic effects on behavior. In most treatments, the results showed that both behavior strength and AChE activity stayed in the same field within a correlation circle. These results illustrated that the environmental stress caused by both DM and MT could inhibit AChE activity and subsequently induce a stepwise behavior response, though both pesticides affect it as direct and indirect inhibitors, respectively.

No abstract

In order to characterize the toxic response of zebra fish (Danio rerio) to Deltamethrin (DM), behavior strength (BS) and muscle AChE activity of zebra fish were investigated. The results showed that the average values of both BS and AChE activity showed a similarly decreased tendency as DM concentration increased, which confirmed the dose-effect relationship, and high and low levels of AChE and BS partly matched low and high levels of exposure concentrations in self-organizing map. These indicated that AChE and BS had slight different aspects of toxicity although overall trend was similar. Behavior activity suggested a possibility of reviving circadian rhythm in test organisms after exposure to the chemical in lower concentration (0.1 TU). This type of rhythm disappeared in higher concentrations (1.0 TU and 2.0 TU). Time series trend analysis of BS and AChE showed an evident time delayed effect of AChE, and a 2 h AChE inhibition delay with higher correlation coefficients (r) in different treatments was observed. It was confirmed that muscle AChE inhibition of zebra fish is a factor for swimming behavior change, though there was a 2 h delay, and other factors should be investigated to illustrate the detailed behavior response mechanism.

No abstract