The multigenerational effects of water contamination and endocrine disrupting chemicals on the fitness of Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Water pollution due to human activities produces sedimentation, excessive nutrients, and toxic chemicals, and this, in turn, has an effect on the normal endocrine functioning of living beings. Overall, water pollution may affect some components of the fitness of organisms (e.g., developmental time and fertility). Some toxic compounds found in polluted waters are known as endocrine disruptors (ED), and among these are nonhalogenated phenolic chemicals such as bisphenol A and nonylphenol. To evaluate the effect of nonhalogenated phenolic chemicals on the endocrine system, we subjected two generations (F0 and F1) of Drosophila melanogaster to different concentrations of ED. Specifically, treatments involved wastewater, which had the highest level of ED (bisphenol A and nonylphenol) and treated wastewater from a constructed Heliconia psittacorum wetland with horizontal subsurface water flow (He); the treated wastewater was the treatment with the lowest level of ED. We evaluated the development time from egg to pupa and from pupa to adult as well as fertility. The results show that for individuals exposed to treated wastewater, the developmental time from egg to pupae was shorter in individuals of the F1 generation than in the F0 generation. Additionally, the time from pupae to adult was longer for flies growing in the H. psittacorum treated wastewater. Furthermore, fertility was lower in the F1 generation than in the F0 generation. Although different concentrations of bisphenol A and nonylphenol had no significant effect on the components of fitness of D. melanogaster (developmental time and fertility), there was a trend across generations, likely as a result of selection imposed on the flies. It is possible that the flies developed different strategies to avoid the effects of the various environmental stressors.

Transgenerational effects on development following microplastic exposure in Drosophila melanogaster

“…Leachates of the PVC particles used in this study have been shown to disrupt sea urchin development and to contain harmful chemicals that can be released into sea water ( Rendell-Bhatti et al, 2020 ). Some plastic additives have been linked to changes in developmental time, size and fitness in D. melanogaster ( Quesada-Calderón et al, 2017 ; Chen et al, 2019 ). In the current study, the plastics were added to a semisolid food matrix, and we did not study the possible release of chemicals from the plastics to the food.…”

“…In contrast, no differences in sex ratios were found in C. riparius treated with PE particles of equivalent size to the ones used in this study ( Silva et al, 2019 ). Since plastic additives often include endocrine disruptors, which are also known to affect D. melanogaster ( Quesada-Calderón et al, 2017 ; Chen et al, 2019 ), we initially hypothesised that the male/female ratio could be affected by chemical additives in the PVC treatments. However, we also found an effect in the PE treatment, which had no added chemicals, and hence released chemicals may not be the only factor contributing to this effect.…”

Studies of Endocrine Disruptors: Nonylphenol and Isomers in Biological Models

“…Water contamination induced by nonylphenol (1670.9 μg/L ± 837.6 g/L = mean ± 1 SD of nonylphenol) can impact the health (development time and fertility) of D. melanogaster , especially the stage from pupa to adult and even at the transgenerational level. However, in some cases, flies could develop different strategies to circumvent various stressful environmental factors (Quesada‐Calderón et al, 2017).…”

Hesperidin-Sources, chemistry, extraction, measurement and biologic effects on reproduction in animals: A review

“…Extreme environmental conditions adversely interfere with reproductive performances in ewes and other animals. Severe environmental conditions such as thermal stress, water scarcity, under nutrition, transhumance and nomadism and the presence of endocrine disrupting substances predispose the animals to oxidative stress through excess production of free radical species that undermines their reproductive performance and overall productivity [1,2,9,31,33,84,97,104,116] . Antioxidants have been employed in the amelioration of the adverse effects of severe environmental conditions [112,114] .…”