Abstract
Atrazine, a common chemical pesticide, has toxicity to adult and juvenile amphibians in natural ecosystems; however, it is more common to study its effects on larvae instead of adults. This study assessed the impacts of atrazine in water through short-term exposure (7 days) on male black spotted frog (Pelophylax nigromaculatus) adults fed every day. The jumping ability, including jumping height, distance, time, and speed, was measured by 3D motion analysis software, and the intestinal content microbiota was determined by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing with QIIME software. The results showed that male P. nigromaculatus exposure to 200 and 500 μg/L atrazine significantly increased jumping distance and jumping time compared to control groups. Conversely, 500 μg/L atrazine treatments significantly decreased the diversity and changed the composition and structure of intestinal content microflora in male P. nigromaculatus compared to control groups. At the phylum level, Chlamydiae was only detected in the control group, and Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, and Proteobacteria were the dominant microflora in the atrazine treatment groups. At the genus level, the abundance of Lactobacillus and Weissella significantly increased in atrazine treatment groups compared to control groups. This study can provide a new framework based on movement behavior and intestinal microbiota to evaluate the response of amphibians to short-term exposure to environmental pollution.
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We would like to thank the editors and three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions on our paper.
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This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31970494), the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (2019JJ40138), and the Aid program for Science and Technology Innovative Research Team in Higher Educational Institutions of Hunan Province (201937924).
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Qiang Zhao, Minyi Huang, and Renyan Duan conceived the research idea. Minyi Huang, Yang Liu, and Yuyue Wan conducted the field work and experiments. Yang Liu, Yuyue Wan, and Lianfu Wu conducted the statistical analyses. Qiang Zhao, Minyi Huang, and Renyan Duan wrote the first draft. All authors contributed to writing.
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Zhao, Q., Huang, M., Liu, Y. et al. Effects of atrazine short-term exposure on jumping ability and intestinal microbiota diversity in male Pelophylax nigromaculatus adults. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 36122–36132 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13234-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13234-9