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Advances in Aquatic Eco-Neurotoxicology

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Prof. Dr. Donald Wlodkowic

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The Neurotox Laboratory, School of Science, RMIT University, Plenty Road, P.O. Box 71, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia
Interests: ecotoxicology; behavioral ecotoxicology; aquatic toxicology; water quality; biomonitoring; neurotoxicology; chemical risk assessment; pollution
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Dear Colleagues,

During the last decade, there has been a tremendous increase in our awareness of how anthropogenic pollution can alter the behavioural traits of diverse aquatic organisms. The behavioural phenotype is indeed the highest-level integrative neurobiological phenomenon, but at its core lies myriads of intertwined biochemical, cellular, and physiological processes. Therefore, the mechanisms that underlie these changes in behavioural phenotypes can stem among others from the dysregulation of neurotransmitter pathways, electrical signalling, and the cell death of discrete cell populations in the central and peripheral nervous systems.

In addition to understanding profound ecological implications, alterations in neuro-behavioural indices are also emerging as sensitive endpoints in environmental neurotoxicity testing and chemical risk assessments. Accordingly, behavioural ecotoxicology and broader eco-neurotoxicology are becoming increasingly popular fields of research.

This Special Issue aims to outline a very broad and inclusive scope of diverse topics in eco-neurotoxicology that include, but are not limited to, behavioural and molecular studies, techniques, methods, as well as new analytical paradigms.

We invite submissions of research papers, short communications, technical notes as well as review and perspective articles that will showcase the latest advances and developments in aquatic eco-neurotoxicology.

Prof. Dr. Donald Wlodkowic
Guest Editor

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Keywords

eco-neurotoxicology
ecotoxicology
aquatic toxicology
behavioural ecotoxicology
animal behaviour
neurotoxicity
pollution

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 3764 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Neurodevelopmental Toxicity of Emamectin Benzoate to the Early Life Stage of Zebrafish Larvae (Danio rerio)

by Jie Gu, Liguo Guo, Yuanhui Zhu, Lingling Qian, Lili Shi, Huanchao Zhang and Guixiang Ji

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(4), 3757; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24043757 - 13 Feb 2023

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2326

Abstract

Emamectin benzoate (EMB) is a widely used pesticide and feed additive in agriculture and aquaculture. It easily enters the aquatic environment through various pathways, thus causing adverse effects on aquatic organisms. However, there are no systematic studies regarding the effects of EMB on the developmental neurotoxicity of aquatic organisms. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the neurotoxic effects and mechanisms of EMB at different concentrations (0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 8 μg/mL) using zebrafish as a model. The results showed that EMB significantly inhibited the hatching rate, spontaneous movement, body length, and swim bladder development of zebrafish embryos, as well as significantly increased the malformation rate of zebrafish larvae. In addition, EMB adversely affected the axon length of motor neurons in Tg (hb9: eGFP) zebrafish and central nervous system (CNS) neurons in Tg (HuC: eGFP) zebrafish and significantly inhibited the locomotor behavior of zebrafish larvae. Meanwhile, EMB induced oxidative damage and was accompanied by increasing reactive oxygen species in the brains of zebrafish larvae. In addition, gene expression involvement in oxidative stress-related (cat, sod and Cu/Zn-sod), GABA neural pathway-related (gat1, gabra1, gad1b, abat and glsa), neurodevelopmental-related (syn2a, gfap, elavl3, shha, gap43 and Nrd) and swim bladder development-related (foxa3, pbxla, mnx1, has2 and elovlla) genes was significantly affected by EMB exposure. In conclusion, our study shows that exposure to EMB during the early life stages of zebrafish significantly increases oxidative damage and inhibits early central neuronal development, motor neuron axon growth and swim bladder development, ultimately leading to neurobehavioral changes in juvenile zebrafish. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Aquatic Eco-Neurotoxicology)

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14 pages, 2067 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sensory-Motor Perturbations in Larval Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Induced by Exposure to Low Levels of Neuroactive Micropollutants during Development

by Jason Henry, Yutao Bai, Florian Kreuder, Minna Saaristo, Jan Kaslin and Donald Wlodkowic

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(16), 8990; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23168990 - 12 Aug 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1968

Abstract

Due to increasing numbers of anthropogenic chemicals with unknown neurotoxic properties, there is an increasing need for a paradigm shift toward rapid and higher throughput behavioral bioassays. In this work, we demonstrate application of a purpose-built high throughput multidimensional behavioral test battery on larval stages of Danio rerio (zebrafish) at 5 days post fertilization (dpf). The automated battery comprised of the established spontaneous swimming (SS), simulated predator response (SPR), larval photomotor response (LPR) assays as well as a new thermotaxis (TX) assay. We applied the novel system to characterize environmentally relevant concentrations of emerging pharmaceutical micropollutants including anticonvulsants (gabapentin: 400 ng/L; carbamazepine: 3000 ng/L), inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen: 9800 ng/L), and antidepressants (fluoxetine: 300 ng/L; venlafaxine: 2200 ng/L). The successful integration of the thermal preference assay into a multidimensional behavioral test battery provided means to reveal ibuprofen-induced perturbations of thermal preference behaviors upon exposure during embryogenesis. Moreover, we discovered that photomotor responses in larval stages of fish are also altered by the as yet understudied anticonvulsant gabapentin. Collectively our results demonstrate the utility of high-throughput multidimensional behavioral ecotoxicity test batteries in prioritizing emerging risks associated with neuroactive drugs that can perturb neurodevelopment. Moreover, we showcase the added value of thermotaxis bioassays for preliminary screening of emerging contaminants. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Aquatic Eco-Neurotoxicology)

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