Navigation Links
Pesticide atrazine can turn male frogs into females
Date:3/1/2010

Atrazine, one of the world's most widely used pesticides, wreaks havoc with the sex lives of adult male frogs, emasculating three-quarters of them and turning one in 10 into females, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, biologists.

The 75 percent that are chemically castrated are essentially "dead" because of their inability to reproduce in the wild, reports UC Berkeley's Tyrone B. Hayes, professor of integrative biology.

"These male frogs are missing testosterone and all the things that testosterone controls, including sperm. So their fertility is as low as 10 percent in some cases, and that is only if we isolate those animals and pair them with females," he said. "In an environment where they are competing with unexposed animals, they have zero chance of reproducing."

The 10 percent or more that turn from males into females ‑ something not known to occur under natural conditions in amphibians ‑ can successfully mate with male frogs but, because they are genetically male, all their offspring are male.

"When we grow these guys up, depending on the family, we will get anywhere from 10 to 50 percent females," Hayes said. "In a population, the genetically male females can decrease or wipe out a population just because they skew sex ratios so badly."

Though the experiments were performed on a common laboratory frog, the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis), field studies indicate that atrazine, a potent endocrine disruptor, similarly affects frogs in the wild, and could possibly be one of the causes of amphibian declines around the globe, Hayes said.

Hayes and his UC Berkeley colleagues report their results in this week's online early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Last week, Hayes and colleagues published a review of pesticide's effects on amphibians in the Journal of Experimental Biology, concluding that a
'/>"/>

Contact: Robert Sanders
rsanders@berkeley.edu
510-643-6998
University of California - Berkeley
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3 4

Related biology news :

1. Storm runoff and sewage treatment outflow contaminated with household pesticides
2. A deadly scorpion provides a safe pesticide
3. Even at sublethal levels, pesticides may slow the recovery of wild salmon populations
4. Getting plants to rid themselves of pesticide residues
5. Pesticides -- easier detection of pollution and impact in rivers
6. Pitt research suggests EPA pesticide exposure test too short, overlooks long term effects
7. Natural seed treatment could drastically cut pesticide use
8. Parasite-resistant peppers green alternatives to chemical pesticides
9. Pitt research finds that low concentrations of pesticides can become toxic mixture
10. Pesticide concentrations decreasing
11. Pesticide build-up could lead to poor honey bee health
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
(Date:6/18/2013)... from the United Kingdom, the Energy Department,s National ... Kentucky have recently published a paper describing a ... Limnoria quadripunctata , commonly known as the ... they exhibit a relatively unique ability to produce ... to break down the biomass they eat. New ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... in the Gulf of Mexico and a smaller than ... based on several NOAA-supported forecast models. , NOAA-supported modelers ... the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium are forecasting that ... be between 7,286 and 8,561 square miles which could ... range from an area the size of Connecticut, Rhode ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... D.C. June 18, 2013 Joshua Obar, Ph.D., ... has been honored with a 2013 ICAAC Young Investigator ... regulation of immunological memory responses to infection. , ... University in 2001 and went on to complete his ... 2006. He performed his Ph.D. thesis research in ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Novel enzyme from tiny gribble could prove a boon for biofuels research 2NOAA, partners predict possible record-setting deadzone for Gulf of Mexico 2NOAA, partners predict possible record-setting deadzone for Gulf of Mexico 3NOAA, partners predict possible record-setting deadzone for Gulf of Mexico 4The American Society for Microbiology honors Joshua Obar 2
... all the UK,s discarded wrapping paper and Christmas cards ... to run a double-decker bus to the moon and ... behind a new scientific study. The study, by ... of waste paper could be turned into high grade ...
... Washington, D.C. Coral reefs are extremely diverse ... risk. Carbon dioxide emissions are acidifying the ocean, threatening ... Carnegie,s Kenneth Schneider analyzed the role of sea cucumbers ... that their dietary process of dissolving calcium carbonate ...
... WORCESTER, Mass. Small, mobile sequences of DNA left over ... ability to move around the genome, pose a significant threat ... genetic parasites, these transposable elements are believed to comprise as ... the damage transposons can do to an organism,s DNA, an ...
Cached Biology News:Go to work on a Christmas card 2Go to work on a Christmas card 3Sea cucumbers: Dissolving coral reefs? 2Defending the genome 2Defending the genome 3
(Date:6/18/2013)... DuPont welcomes 48 of the nation’s finest agricultural ... Teachers Ambassador Academy this week (NATAA) at the company’s ... , The NATAA “Ag Academy” is a professional development ... of the National FFA Foundation and the ... The highly recommended agriscience teachers, who are participating in ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... 2013 The Pistoia Alliance ... HELM biomolecular representation standard software toolkit and editor ... HELM (Hierarchical Editing Language for Macromolecules) enables ... (e.g. proteins, nucleotides, antibody drug conjugates) whose size ... methodologies impractical or unusable. HELM solves this problem ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... , June 18, 2013  AMRI (NASDAQ: ... Burlington, Mass. , site has received ... Administration (DEA) registration to handle Schedule 2 and ... acknowledgement of Burlington,s physical ... documentation. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120229/NY61160LOGO ) ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... , June 18, 2013  Techne Corporation (NASDAQ: ... it has agreed to acquire 100% ownership of ... Inc. (Bionostics).  Bionostics is a global leader in ... that verify the proper operation of in ... point of care blood glucose and blood gas ...
Breaking Biology Technology:DuPont Sponsors National AgriScience Ambassador Academy 2DuPont Sponsors National AgriScience Ambassador Academy 3The Pistoia Alliance Releases HELM Biomolecular Representation Standard Open Source Tools 2AMRI Burlington Receives DEA Approval to Handle Controlled Substances 2Techne Corporation Announces Acquisition Agreement 2Techne Corporation Announces Acquisition Agreement 3Techne Corporation Announces Acquisition Agreement 4Techne Corporation Announces Acquisition Agreement 5
... Novexel, a speciality,pharmaceutical company focused on the ... the significant global problem of microbial,resistance, announces today ... Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Novexel,s SAB is chaired ... board. Dr. Bush, who is currently,Adjunct Professor at ...
... Trusted LASIK Surgeons directory service and website at ... consumers seeking to improve their vision and find a ... of attaining 20-20 vision. What sets the Trusted ... ensuring that only those who are among the best ...
... U.S. Department of Energy,s Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed ... film containing nanoparticles - particles measuring billionths of a ... and eliminates the use of toxic chromium for this ... 7,507,480 for their method and the corrosion-resistant metals made ...
Cached Biology Technology:Novexel Strengthens its Scientific Advisory Board With the Appointment of Dr. Karen Bush 2Novexel Strengthens its Scientific Advisory Board With the Appointment of Dr. Karen Bush 3Trusted LASIK Surgeons Welcomes LASIK Expert William Mathers, M.D. of the Casey Vision Correction Center in Portland, Oregon, to Its LASIK Directory 2Trusted LASIK Surgeons Welcomes LASIK Expert William Mathers, M.D. of the Casey Vision Correction Center in Portland, Oregon, to Its LASIK Directory 3Trusted LASIK Surgeons Welcomes LASIK Expert William Mathers, M.D. of the Casey Vision Correction Center in Portland, Oregon, to Its LASIK Directory 4Trusted LASIK Surgeons Welcomes LASIK Expert William Mathers, M.D. of the Casey Vision Correction Center in Portland, Oregon, to Its LASIK Directory 5Trusted LASIK Surgeons Welcomes LASIK Expert William Mathers, M.D. of the Casey Vision Correction Center in Portland, Oregon, to Its LASIK Directory 6Trusted LASIK Surgeons Welcomes LASIK Expert William Mathers, M.D. of the Casey Vision Correction Center in Portland, Oregon, to Its LASIK Directory 7Trusted LASIK Surgeons Welcomes LASIK Expert William Mathers, M.D. of the Casey Vision Correction Center in Portland, Oregon, to Its LASIK Directory 8Scientists patent corrosion-resistant nano-coating for metals 2
... The versatile Promega Flipper® Racks are ideal ... your small tubes. These polypropylene racks withstand ... for freezer storage. They may also be ... rack is two-sided; one side accommodates 0.5ml ...
... lysis buffer, PCR mix, DNA polymerase and ... volume PCR reactions. This system can detect ... rod and coccus bacteria, such as Escherichia ... Streptococcus Agalactiae, and etc. With the powerful ...
... Insect Cell Medium is optimized for serum-free ... Cells. In this protein-free medium, Sf9 cultures ... 107 cells/ml with viabilities above 95%. This ... where color from X-gluc staining of pBACgus ...
...
Biology Products: