Meeting Abstract
The herbicide atrazine is commonly applied to crops in the U.S. Midwest in order to control broad leaf weeds. Atrazine enters local streams and rivers through runoff, seepage, evaporation and regional transport, subsequently affecting aquatic organisms. To examine the effects of atrazine on expression and activity levels of the oxidative enzymes cytochrome P450 (CYP1A1) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST), we used the used the keystone species crayfish as a bioindicator. Crayfish were treated with 0, 10, 40, 80, 100 and 300 ppb atrazine for 1, 2, 4, 7 and 10 days. According to results, there was a significant increase in CYP1A1 expression levels succeeding treatments of 100 ppb for one day, 10 ppb for two days, and 40 ppb for four and ten days. At seven days of exposure, there were no significant differences of CYP1A1 expression levels for all concentrations. Moreover, our results indicate a significant increase in GST expression following treatments of 300 ppb for one, two, four, seven, and ten days, as well as 10 ppb for two days. Overall, detoxification enzyme expression and activity levels are affected following environmentally-relevant exposures of atrazine. Exposure to atrazine may ultimately lead to increased energy demands and alter population fitness.
