Herbicides and their Lethal and Sub-lethal Effects on the Chemical Communication System of Xenopus laevis

Type of content
Theses / Dissertations
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Zoology
Degree name
Master of Science
Publisher
University of Canterbury. Zoology
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
Date
2004
Authors
Yuill Proctor, Kirsty Ann
Abstract

Amphibian populations are in mass decline on a global scale. Various explanations have been considered, including harmful effects from exposure to toxicants. Using Xenopus laevis adults and tadpoles, potential sublethal effects of atrazine, a herbicide, were investigated in this thesis. I also investigated the toxicity of an organic herbicide compared this with the toxicity of a synthetic herbicide, using LC50 values. Whether X. laevis adult frogs could communicate chemically was tested experimentally. The results suggest that adult female X. laevis communicate chemically, but there was no evidence that male individuals did so. For testing tadpoles I used a kin-preference assay. An encouraging trend for kin preference was evident, for both an outbred and an inbred line. Tadpoles changed their behaviour after exposure to l0μg/L of atrazine for 24 hr. Kin preferences in the control tests were reversed after exposure. A hypothesis of altruistic kin avoidance was suggested by these results. However, when individuals were isolated and then exposed, these individuals had more pronounced preference for kin compared to controls. X. laevis tadpoles exposed to Organic Interceptor (organic herbicide) had a LC50 that was more than 7000 times lower than the 20% recommended dose, whereas Roundup Renews' (a synthetic herbicide) LC50 was around 8 times lower than the 1% recommended dose. This research adds to evidence that toxicants have a negative impact on amphibian populations, and suggests that more research needs to be conducted to identify other sublethal effects of toxicants and to clarify the implications these effects might have for the amphibian populations in nature.

Description
Citation
Keywords
Chemical communication, Xenopus laevis, atrazine, herbicides
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Rights
Copyright Kirsty Ann Yuill Proctor