Meeting Abstract

 

120-7  Monday, Jan. 7 11:45 – 12:00  The behavioral and transcriptional impacts of bifenthrin exposure in a widely introduced model fish. LIGOCKI, IY*; MUNSON, A; FARRAR, V; VIERNES, RV; SIH, A; CONNON, RE; CALISI, RM; University of California, Davis; University of California, Davis; University of California, Davis; University of California, Davis; University of California, Davis; University of California, Davis; University of California, Davis ligocki.3@osu.edu https://isaacligocki.com/

In recent decades, pyrethroid pesticides have been deemed a safer alternative to previously used pesticides. While some evidence supports this in mammals and birds, exposure to certain pyrethroids can have nonlethal effects such as affecting concentrations of hormones vital to reproduction in fish. Thus, we hypothesized that pyrethroid exposure impacts fish reproductive behavior and the expression of associated genes. We tested our hypothesis by examining the effects of the widely used pyrethroid pesticide, bifenthrin, on the reproductive behaviors of the broadly distributed livebearing western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis. We exposed adult female fish to one of five environmentally relevant concentrations of bifenthrin and conducted behavioral assays before and after exposure. While we did not detect any changes in behavior due to exposure to bifenthrin, exposure was associated with a dose dependent increase in gene expression of estrogen receptor alpha (ER-α), while a non-monotonic response was measured in glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in brain tissue. Our study highlights the importance of using integrative approaches associated with behavior when evaluating the impact of toxicants. Merging physiological, morphological, and behavioral assessments of the nonlethal effects of pollutants will enhance our ability to predict their impact on individuals, populations, and communities.