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Assessing Atrazine-Induced Toxicities in Bufo bufo gargarizans Cantor

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Abstract

Atrazine (AZ), a widely used herbicide has drawn attentions for its potential impacts on amphibians. This study aims to investigate the toxicity of AZ in Bufo bufo gargarizans Cantor (B. bufo gargarizans), a species of toad commonly found in China and countries in East Asia. We treated tadpoles with 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 μg/L AZ for 85 days and examined related parameters. The results showed that the mortality of the toads in the treatment group increased dramatically in a U-shaped dose–response relationship. The hindlimb extension and metamorphosis rate of the toads were significantly inhibited by AZ at 10 and 100 μg/L. Under the same condition, there were significant progressive changes in the testicular structures. Moreover, we found that AZ has no significant effects on growth, sex ratios, gonadal morphology, forelimb emergence and histology in the ovaries. Our results support the idea that environmental contaminants including AZ may be relevant to global amphibian decline.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (30901214), Natural Science Foundation of Shandong (ZR2009CM114; 2010GSF10213), and Jinan Science and Technology bureau (201010005).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, School of Life Science, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, Shandong, China

    Linlin Sai & Yuezhong Li

  2. Department of Toxicology, Shandong Academy of Occupational Health and Occupational Medicine, Jinan, 250002, Shandong, China

    Linlin Sai, Cunxiang Bo, Gongchang Yu, Qiang Jia, Lin Xie & Qiming Guo

  3. Department of Chinese Medicine, Jinan Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, 250013, Shandong, China

    Qingbo Wu

  4. China Shandong Medical College, Jinan, 250002, Shandong, China

    Binpeng Qu

  5. National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology-Entox, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4108, Australia

    Jack C. Ng & Cheng Peng

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  1. Linlin Sai
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  2. Qingbo Wu
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  3. Binpeng Qu
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  4. Cunxiang Bo
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  5. Gongchang Yu
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  6. Qiang Jia
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  7. Lin Xie
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  8. Yuezhong Li
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  9. Qiming Guo
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  10. Jack C. Ng
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  11. Cheng Peng
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Correspondence to Qiming Guo.

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Sai, L., Wu, Q., Qu, B. et al. Assessing Atrazine-Induced Toxicities in Bufo bufo gargarizans Cantor. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 94, 152–157 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-014-1441-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-014-1441-0

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