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Effects of the exposure to atrazine on bone development of Podocnemis expansa (Testudines, Podocnemididae)

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Abstract

The use of pesticides is a widely spread practice in Brazilian agriculture, and dispersion of these substances is an important factor for the fauna and flora. Atrazine is an endocrine disruptor in the xenoestrogen class that is used worldwide in agricultural practices. In Brazil, its use is permitted in several crops. Podocnemis expansa is a representative of the Testudines order that is the largest freshwater reptile of South America. Its distribution enables it to get in contact with molecules that are commonly used as pesticides, which may cause deleterious effects in target populations. In order to evaluate the possible effects of the exposure to atrazine on bone ontogeny of this species, eggs were artificially incubated in sand moistened with water contaminated with atrazine at concentrations equal to 0, 2, 20 or 200 μg/L. Embryos were collected throughout incubation and submitted to diaphanization of soft tissues with potassium hydroxide (KOH); bones were stained with Alizarin red S and cartilages by Alcian blue. Embryos were evaluated for the presence of abnormalities during the different stages of pre-natal development of skeletal elements. No effect of atrazine was observed on bone development during the embryonic phase in P. expansa individuals, in the conditions of this study.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank RAN/ICMBio and CEUA/UFU for allowing us to perform this study. We would also like to thank the researcher Paulo Roberto de Jesus Filho for the aid in egg collection and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for financial support and incentive given to this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wild Animal Research and Teaching Laboratory (LAPAS), Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU), Rua Piaui, S/N, Campos Umuarama, Av. Jardim Umuarama, Uberlândia, MG, CEP 38400-902, Brazil

    Juliana dos Santos Mendonça, Lucélia Gonçalves Vieira, Sady Alexis Chavauty Valdes & André Luiz Quagliatto Santos

  2. Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura da Universidade de São Paulo (CENA/USP), Piracicaba, SP, Brazil

    Franz Zirena Vilca & Valdemar Luiz Tornisielo

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  1. Juliana dos Santos Mendonça
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  2. Lucélia Gonçalves Vieira
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  3. Sady Alexis Chavauty Valdes
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  4. Franz Zirena Vilca
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  5. Valdemar Luiz Tornisielo
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  6. André Luiz Quagliatto Santos
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Correspondence to Juliana dos Santos Mendonça.

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This study was funded by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) (23038.007283/2011).

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dos Santos Mendonça, J., Vieira, L.G., Valdes, S.A.C. et al. Effects of the exposure to atrazine on bone development of Podocnemis expansa (Testudines, Podocnemididae). Ecotoxicology 25, 594–600 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-016-1618-x

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