The endocrine disruptive potential of phytoplankton exudates.
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| Year of publication | 2013 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | This study focus on endocrine disrupting potential of metabolites with high environmental relevance which phytoplankton excrete into the surrounding environment during normal physiological processes (exudates). The novel embryo model with transgenic zebrafish strain (cyp19a1b-GFP) was chosen to assess the in vivo estrogenicity. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) is expresses under the control of aromatase B (cyp19a1b) promoter which is induced by estrogens. Phenotypic toxicity and neurotoxicity was also assessed in zebrafish embryos. Battery of in vitro methods focused on diverse endocrine disruption modes of action – estrogenic, anti/androgenic, glucocorticoid and anti/retinoid was used to investigate potential effects on receptor level. Concentrations of a set of prioritised phytoestrogens were determined analytically by HPLC-MSMS to investigate to which extent they could be responsible for the observed biological effects. The Cyanobacteria Microcystis aerigunosa and Cylidrospermopsis raciborskii and green algae Scenedesmus quadricauda were selected model species for exudates extraction based on our previous research. These species were grown under controlled laboratory conditions. Exudates of all three phytoplankton species caused estrogenicity in vivo and in vitro. The endocrine disruptive effect was covered by deformations and mortality of zebrafish embryos at greater concentrations of exudates of Microcystis aerigunosa and Cylidrospermopsis raciborskii. The study documents that metabolites produced during life of cyanobacteria and algae to their environment can contribute to endocrine disrupting effects in aquatic environment, especially in case of water eutrophication and subsequent massive water bloom. |
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