Aquat Toxicol 2022 Mar 01;244:106081. doi: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2022.106081.

Impact of glyphosate-based herbicide on early embryonic development of the amphibian Xenopus laevis.

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Worldwide, amphibian populations are declining drastically. One reason might be the use of pesticides including herbicides. The herbicide glyphosate is an inhibitor of the 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate (EPSP) synthase of the plant shikimate pathway, preventing the formation of aromatic amino acids and thus inducing plant death. Due to this specific action, GBH are considered nontoxic to non-target organisms. However, GBH impairs embryonic development of chickens, amphibians and fishes. So far, no detailed tissue- and organ-specific analysis of the effects of GBH during development in amphibians has been performed. RESULTS: We demonstrated that GBH Roundup® LB plus has a negative effect on embryonic development of the South African clawed frog Xenopus laevis. GBH treatment with sublethal concentrations resulted in a reduced body length and mobility of embryos. Furthermore, incubation with GBH led to smaller eyes, brains and cranial cartilages in comparison to untreated embryos. GBH incubation also resulted in shorter cranial nerves and had an effect on cardiac development including reduced heart rate and atrium size. On a molecular basis, GBH treatment led to reduced expression of marker genes in different tissues and developmental stages. CONCLUSION: GBH leads to disturbed embryonic development of Xenopus laevis.

PubMed ID: 35074614
Article link: Aquat Toxicol


Species referenced: Xenopus laevis
Genes referenced: actc1 egr2 emx1 en2 isl1 mef2c mef2d myh6 nkx2-5 pax6 rax sox3 tnni3 tnnt2 twist1
GO keywords: eye development [+]
Antibodies: Tnnt2 Ab1

Phenotypes: Xla Wt + glyphosate [10] (Fig. 4A) [+]