A comparative study on the relationship between acetylcholinesterase activity and acute toxicity in Daphnia magna exposed to anticholinesterase insecticides

Printes, L. B. and Callaghan, A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2731-3352 (2004) A comparative study on the relationship between acetylcholinesterase activity and acute toxicity in Daphnia magna exposed to anticholinesterase insecticides. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 23 (5). pp. 1241-1247. ISSN 0730-7268 doi: 10.1897/03-202

Abstract/Summary

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity was measured in Daphnia magna that had been exposed to four organophosphates (OPs; parathion, chlorpyrifos, malathion, and acephate) and one carbamate (propoxur) for 48 h. These results were related to acute toxicity (median effective concentration [EC50] for immobility). For the four OPs, the EC50s were 7.03 pM, 3.17 pM, 10.56 pM, and 309.82 microM, respectively. The EC50 for propoxur was 449.90 pM. Reduction in AChE activity was directly related to an increase in immobility in all chemicals tested. However, the ratio between the EC50 and the AChE median inhibiting concentration ranged from 0.31 to 0.90. A 50% reduction in AChE activity generally was associated with detrimental effects on mobility. However, for acephate, high levels of AChE inhibition (70%) were observed in very low concentrations and were not associated with immobility. In addition, increasing the concentration of acephate further had a slight negative effect on AChE activity but a strong detrimental effect on mobility. Binding sites other than AChE possibly are involved in acephate toxicity to D. magna. Our findings demonstrate different associations between AChE inhibition and toxicity when different chemicals are compared. Therefore, the value of using AChE activity as a biomarker in D. magna will be dependent on the chemical tested.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/15558
Identification Number/DOI	10.1897/03-202
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Biological Sciences > Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Uncontrolled Keywords	Daphnia magna; Acetylcholinesterase; Acute toxicity; Organophosphates; Carbamates
Publisher	Wiley
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