TY - JOUR
T1 - A common environmental contaminant affects sexual behavior in the clawed frog, Xenopus tropicalis
AU - Schwendiman, Angela L.
AU - Propper, Catherine R.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by Arizona TRIF funds and by NSF grant # IOS-0723370 both to CRP. We thank Dr. Robert Grainger for generously supplying some of the animals used in this study. We also thank Dr. Marty Crump, Dr. Loretta Mayer, Dr. C.J. Smith, and Dr. Timothy Vail for input on this project.
PY - 2012/6/25
Y1 - 2012/6/25
N2 - Behavior can be a sensitive measure of endocrine disruption from exposure to environmental contaminants. Xenopus tropicalis has become a developmental model system for evaluation of endocrine disrupting compounds because of its relatively rapid development and its sequenced, diploid genome. We used X. tropicalis as a model for endocrine disruption of sexual behavior. We injected frogs intraperitoneally (IP) with a gonadotropin hormone-releasing hormone agonist at 0.31μg/50μL or vehicle control solution and determined behavioral outcomes. Next, we used GnRH-induced sexual behavior to determine the effects of a 30-day exposure to aqueous estradiol (E2) at 10 -8M or a common pollutant, 4-tert octylphenol (OP), at the environmentally relevant concentrations of 10 -7M OP or 10 -8M OP. The GnRH-agonist treatment had no effect on female behaviors. In males, GnRH-agonist treatment increased approaches, touches, amplexus, and a sum total of all sexual behaviors (total sexual behavior score). Exposure to E2 or any dose of OP had no effect on female behaviors. In males, E2 and 10 -7M OP increased incidence of arm waving (a potential pheromone releasing behavior), and E2, and both doses of OP increased calling behavior compared to an unexposed control group. More males in all the exposure groups expressed sexual behavior than in the control group. This study demonstrates that a common pollutant, OP, affects male sexual behavior possibly by acting like an estrogen.
AB - Behavior can be a sensitive measure of endocrine disruption from exposure to environmental contaminants. Xenopus tropicalis has become a developmental model system for evaluation of endocrine disrupting compounds because of its relatively rapid development and its sequenced, diploid genome. We used X. tropicalis as a model for endocrine disruption of sexual behavior. We injected frogs intraperitoneally (IP) with a gonadotropin hormone-releasing hormone agonist at 0.31μg/50μL or vehicle control solution and determined behavioral outcomes. Next, we used GnRH-induced sexual behavior to determine the effects of a 30-day exposure to aqueous estradiol (E2) at 10 -8M or a common pollutant, 4-tert octylphenol (OP), at the environmentally relevant concentrations of 10 -7M OP or 10 -8M OP. The GnRH-agonist treatment had no effect on female behaviors. In males, GnRH-agonist treatment increased approaches, touches, amplexus, and a sum total of all sexual behaviors (total sexual behavior score). Exposure to E2 or any dose of OP had no effect on female behaviors. In males, E2 and 10 -7M OP increased incidence of arm waving (a potential pheromone releasing behavior), and E2, and both doses of OP increased calling behavior compared to an unexposed control group. More males in all the exposure groups expressed sexual behavior than in the control group. This study demonstrates that a common pollutant, OP, affects male sexual behavior possibly by acting like an estrogen.
KW - Amphibian
KW - Endocrine disruption
KW - Estrogen
KW - Gonadotropin-releasing hormone
KW - Mating behavior
KW - Octylphenol
KW - Sexual behavior
KW - Xenopus tropicalis
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U2 - 10.1016/j.physbeh.2012.03.035
DO - 10.1016/j.physbeh.2012.03.035
M3 - Article
C2 - 22504493
AN - SCOPUS:84860566603
SN - 0031-9384
VL - 106
SP - 520
EP - 526
JO - Physiology and Behavior
JF - Physiology and Behavior
IS - 4
ER -