A behavioral screening assay for Daphnia Magna : A method to assess the effects of xenobiotics on spacial orientation

The effects of carbon fullerenes (C(60) ) on the environment is a growing concern as the use of nanotechnology continues to increase. Previous studies have reported alteration in Daphnia magna behavior, including increased hopping frequency, heart rate, and appendage movement in response to tetrahydrofuran-solubilized C(60) and increased hopping rate and appendage movement in response to tetrahydrofuran-solubilized C(60) HxC(70) Hx exposure. The objective of the current study was to evaluate effects of water-stirred C(60) and sonicated carboxylic acid functionalized fullerenes (fC(60) ) on D. magna behavior. Behavioral endpoints are important because changes in behavior can influence predator avoidance behaviors, alter predation risk, and potentially lead to population-level effects in D. magna. To evaluate the potential effect of fullerenes on phototactic behavior, D. magna were exposed to 545.4 µg/L C(60) and 545.6 µg/L fC(60) , and vertical position was monitored. Daphnia magna were also exposed to 545.4 µg/L C(60) , 545.6 µg/L fC(60) , and 829.3 µg/L fC(60) , and swimming movements were recorded. Fullerenes altered the vertical migration response of D. magna to the addition of food, but D. magna vertical position response to predator cues was similar for fullerenes and controls. In addition, D. magna reduced swimming speed when exposed to C(60) , but other components of D. magna swimming behavior were not affected. This research supports previous findings and suggests that C(60) may influence D. magna behavior and highlights the need for further research on sublethal behavioral modifications in aquatic organisms in response to nanomaterials.

The effect of fullerenes and functionalized fullerenes on Daphnia magna phototaxis and swimming behavior

Brausch

Anderson

Smith

et al. 2011

Behavioral responses of Daphnia pulex exposed to carbaryl and Chaoborus kairomone

Dodson

Hanazato

Gorski

1995

An analysis of digitized three‐dimensional video records of free‐swimming Daphnia pulex identified six measurements of swimming behavior that can be used to quantify individual behavioral responses to pesticides or natural chemical signals. Protocols are given for measuring the parameters that showed statistically significant changes in pesticide treatments. The most efficient experimental design would involve observing as many animals as possible, with one observation per animal. Parameters most likely to be useful in future studies are velocity, turning angle, upward and downward angles during hops, variance in vertical position, and hopping frequency. The parameters varied in usefulness, defined as the ratio of within‐treatment to among‐treatment variance (F ratios). Velocity was the most useful (i.e., had the highest F ratio); hopping frequency was the least useful. Daphnia exhibited three kinds of swimming behavior, as defined by eight parameters: (a) “spinning” (extreme and continuous escape response) to acutely toxic levels of Carbaryl (40 ppb); (b) “irritation” (an increase in escape‐like behavior) to low levels of Carbaryl (1 ppb); and (c) “null” behavioral responses to Chaoborus‐conditioned water, in which there was no detectable change in any measurement of swimming behavior. In predation trials, bluegill sunfish preferentially selected individuals showing “spinning” behavior. Results from this and other studies of Daphnia swimming behavior suggest a conservative‐swimming hypothesis for understanding constraints on Daphnia swimming behavior.

Phototactic behavior of Daphnia and the continuous monitoring of water quality: Interference of fish kairomones and food quality

Kieu

Michels

Meester

2001

We carried out a laboratory study to evaluate the sensitivity of phototactic behavior of Daphnia magna to sublethal concentrations of pentachlorophenol (PCP) and copper. More specifically, we determined whether the sensitivity of a D. magna clone to those pollutants is influenced by food quality and the presence of fish kairomones. Test animals were fed either unicellular green algae (Scenedesmus acutus) or fresh baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and were cultured in the presence or absence of fish kairomones. Four concentrations of PCP (0.4, 0.8, 1.2, and 1.6 mg/L PCP) and one concentration of copper (0.02 mg/L Cu2+) in International Standards Organisation (ISO, Geneva, Switzerland) standard medium were applied in the experiments. Animals were exposed for 3 h to the pollutants prior to the experiments. In the absence of fish kairomones, a strong negative relationship between the phototactic index and nominal sublethal concentrations of PCP was found in animals fed either algae or yeast. The sensitivity of the Daphnia clone to sublethal concentrations of PCP was, however, less clear cut in animals fed yeast than in animals fed algae. The detection limit was 0.4 mg/L PCP with algae as food but was as high as 1.2 mg/L PCP when yeast was used as food. The ability to detect sublethal concentrations of copper and PCP using phototactic behavior was lost when the clones were cultured in the presence of fish kairomones. At a concentration of 0.02 mg/L Cu2+ and in the absence of fish kairomones, the D. magna clone tested became significantly less positively phototactic than in the control treatment regardless of the quality of the food used to culture the test animals. These results suggest that assays using the phototactic behavior of Daphnia to monitor water quality should use genetically stable (clonal) material, positively phototactic, and insensitive to the presence of fish kairomones.