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Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic microorganisms that compose phytoplankton and therefore have a trophic relationship with zooplankton, which represent an important link for energy flux in aquatic food webs. Several species can form blooms and produce bioactive metabolites known as cyanotoxins. However, the ecological and adaptative role of these toxins are still under debate. Many studies have addressed the cyanotoxins' function in defense against herbivory when grazing pressure by zooplankton plays a role in phytoplankton top-down control. Thus, the present study evaluated the ecophysiological responses of the cyanobacterial strain Microcystis aeruginosa NPLJ-4 underlying the chemical induced defense against the cladoceran Daphnia gessneri. Exposure to predator infochemicals consisted of cultures established in ASM-1 medium prepared in a filtrate from a culture of adults of D. gessneri at an environmentally relevant density. Daphnia infochemicals promoted a significant increase in toxin production by M. aeruginosa. However, no differences in growth were observed, despite a significant increase in both maximum photosynthetic efficiency and electron transport rate in response to zooplankton. Additionally, there was no significant variation in the production of exopolysaccharides. Overall, although a grazer-induced defense response was demonstrated, there were no effects on M. aeruginosa fitness, which maintained its growth in the presence of Daphnia alarm cues.

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The pharmaceuticals bisoprolol (BIS), sotalol (SOT), and ranitidine (RAN) are among the most consumed pharmaceuticals worldwide and are frequently detected in different aquatic ecosystems. However, very few ecotoxicity data are available in the literature for them. To help fill these data gaps, toxicity tests with the algae Raphidocelis subcapitata, the macrophyte Lemna minor, the cnidarian Hydra attenuata, the crustacean Daphnia similis, and the fish Danio rerio were performed for assessing the ecotoxicity of these pharmaceuticals. Standard, as well as non-standard endpoint, was evaluated, including the locomotor behavior of D. rerio larvae. Results obtained for SOT and RAN showed that acute adverse effects are not expected to occur on aquatic organisms at the concentrations at which these pharmaceuticals are usually found in fresh surface waters. On the other hand, BIS was classified as hazardous to the environment in the acute III category. Locomotor behavior of D. rerio larvae was not affected by BIS and RAN. A disturbance on the total swimming distance at the dark cycle was observed only for larvae exposed to the highest test concentration of 500 mg L-1 of SOT. D. similis reproduction was affected by BIS with an EC10 of 3.6 (0.1-34.0) mg L-1. A risk quotient (RQ) of 0.04 was calculated for BIS in fresh surface water, considering a worst-case scenario. To the best of our knowledge, this study presents the first chronic toxicity data with BIS on non-target organisms.

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There are few studies on nanoplastic that propose quantification of the amount ingested combined with evaluation of the toxic effects on aquatic organisms. We propose 2 methods to quantify the amount of polystyrene nanoplastic (PSNP) ingested by Daphnia magna: fluorescence intensity, where a fluorescent monomer (F) is added to the PSNP and quantified through fluorescence light microscopy, and total aluminum quantification, where PSNP is synthesized with Al2 O3 metal-core nanoparticles and used for quantification of the nanoplastic ingested by the organism Daphnia magna using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. In addition, the PSNP was functionalized with palmitic acid to simulate the environmental conditions leading to biological and chemical transformations. Acute and chronic toxicity tests were performed with fluorescent PSNP (PSNP/F) and palmitic acid-functionalized PSNP/F (PSNP/F-PA). The ingestion quantified was higher by factors of 2.8 and 3.0 for PSNP/F-PA and 1.9 and 1.7 for PSNP/F applying the fluorescence intensity and total Al quantifying methods, respectively, when compared to PSNP. These results are consistent with the data obtained in the toxicity tests, which showed an approximately 3 times increase in the adverse effect of PSNP/F-PA on the mobility and reproduction of the organisms. Thus, the strong inhibition of D. magna reproduction caused by PSNP/F-PA in the chronic toxicity tests could be associated with a greater amount of this nanoplastic being ingested by the organisms. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:2101-2110. © 2019 SETAC.

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Camorim is a small, eutrophic reservoir in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with a phytoplankton community dominated most of the year by the filamentous diatom Aulacoseira spp. and the toxic cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii. As filamentous species can be a poor food for grazers, we hypothesize that phytoplankton from this reservoir would constrain cladoceran fitness due to nutritional limitation and/or toxicity when animals fed mixtures of cultured green algae and natural seston. Clones of different cladoceran species were exposed either to seston from Camorim reservoir sampled in different seasons or to a C. raciborskii strain (CYLCAM-2) isolated from the reservoir. In short-term assays, cladocerans were exposed to either 100% seston or mixtures of 50% seston added to green algae (200 µg C L-1), and their survivorship and somatic growth were measured for 4 days. In life table assays, neonates were exposed to the same seston treatments over 14 days and age at first reproduction, survivorship, fecundity, total offspring, and the intrinsic rate of natural increase (r) were assessed. In general, seston negatively affected cladoceran survivorship and fitness (r), but this response was seasonally and species specific. Stronger effects of CYLCAM-2 than those caused by seston on survivorship, somatic growth, and r were found for all cladoceran species, especially when the proportion of CYLCAM-2 was higher than 50% in relation to green algae in a fixed total food concentration. Our results suggest that both nutritional (C/P and morphology) and toxicity factors can act to impair cladoceran fitness and help explain the absence of cladocerans in Camorim reservoir.

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Microcystins (MCs) are toxic heptapeptides produced by cyanobacteria during blooms that are noxious to diverse organisms, from bacteria to vertebrates. Specifically in daphnids, they cause reduced growth, a low reproductive rate, and, in extreme cases, death; however, different infochemicals released by cladocerans stimulate MCs synthesis. Ecological cyanobacteria-daphnids interactions are complex and not clear yet. In this study, we evaluated the effects of infochemicals released by Daphnia magna neonates and adults fed with different concentrations of Microcystis aeruginosa on population growth of strains Ch10 and UTEX LB2385 of M. aeruginosa, mcyA gene expression in real time qPCR, and the intracellular concentration of MCs. In addition, we assessed the relation between the cellular diameter and the intracellular concentration of MCs in both strains. Chlorophyll content per cell was affected by the presence of infochemicals from D. magna neonates and adults. mcyA gene was significantly overexpressed in the early stages of population growth (5 days) in all treatments with strain UTEX LB2385, whereas overexpression was observed in strain Ch10 at the end stage of the exponential and stationary phases (10 and 15 days). Intracellular concentration of MCs varied with the tested factor. Results suggest that the increase in mcyA gene expression and in MCs production could be defense mechanisms against the consumption by D. magna. Results also demonstrate the physiological plasticity among Microcystis strains, which could explain the permanence and dominance of this genus in toxic blooms.

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A dengue é um dos principais problemas de Saúde Pública da atualidade. É transmitida por mosquitos do gênero Aedes, sendo a espécie Aedes aegypti o vetor responsável pela transmissão no Brasil. O principal alvo de controle da doença é seu vetor, sendo o controle químico amplamente utilizado em todas as regiões atingidas. Como forma de prevenção ou em períodos de epidemia, torna-se necessária a eliminação dos mosquitos adultos, sendo indicada a nebulização a ultrabaixo volume (UBV) a frio do organofosforado malation por meio do uso de equipamentos pulverizadores acoplados a veículos. Este inseticida utilizado pode sofrer desvios durante e após a aplicação a UBV, caracterizando-se como um potencial agente de desequilíbrio ecológico, podendo atingir e gerar efeitos danosos em organismos não alvos aquáticos e terrestres. Este trabalho teve como objetivo desenvolver e validar um método de análise para o malation em cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência e obter recuperação do inseticida em níveis aceitáveis em água e solo, avaliar seu período de dissipação e tempo de meia vida (t1/2) nestas matrizes e classificá-lo quanto à toxicidade aguda e ao risco ambiental de acordo com diferentes autores, para o microcustáceo Daphnia magna, para a minhoca Eisenia foetida, para o peixe mato grosso (Hyphessobrycon eques) e para a macrófita Lemna minor. O método foi considerado adequado para análise do malation. A recuperação obtida para água foi de 97 por cento e para solo, 96 por cento...

Dengue is one of the major public health problems nowadays. It is transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes, and the Aedes aegypti specie is the vector responsible for transmission in Brazil. The main target to control the disease is its vector, and the chemical control is widely used in all affected regions. As a preventive measure or in epidemic periods, it becomes necessary to eliminate adult mosquitoes, being indicated the ultralow volume nebulization of malathion organophosphate in cold way through the use of sprinklers attached to vehicles. This used insecticide can suffer deviation during and after application ULV, characterizing itself as a potential agent of environmental imbalance, with the possibility of reach and generate harmful effects on aquatic and terrestrial non-target organisms. This work had the objective to develop and validate a method of analysis for malathion in high performance liquid chromatography and obtain recovery of insecticide in acceptable levels in water and soil, evaluate its dissipation period and half-life time in these matrices and classify it on acute toxicity and environmental risk according to different authors, to the microcrustacean Daphnia magna, to the earthworm Eisenia foetida, to the fish Hyphessobrycon eques and to the macrophyte Lemna minor. The method was considered appropriate for analysis of malathion. The obtained recovery for water was 97 per cent and for soil, 96 per cent . Toxic effects resulting from exposure to...

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Os objetivos deste trabalho foram avaliar a toxicidade aguda do sulfato de cobre e do triclorfon para três espécies de Daphnia (D. similiis, D. magna e D. laevis) na presença ou ausência de sedimento. Os valores de CE estimados para D. magna foram de 0,3496 mg de sulfato de cobre/L com sedimento e 0,0447 sem sedimento, para D. similiis 0,2859 com sedimento e 0,0426 sem sedimento e para D. laevis 0,1437 com sedimento e 0,1094 sem sedimento. A CE (50-48H) estimada para a D. magna foi de 299,70 ng de triclorfon/L com sedimento e 0,70 sem sedimento, para D. similiis 381,62 com sedimento e 0,52 sem sedimento e para D. laevis 282,72 com sedimento e 0,92 sem sedimento. O triclorfon mostrou-se mais tóxico que o sulfato de cobre para as tres espécies estudadas, sendo que a presença de sedimento diminuiu a toxicidade de ambos para as tres espécies na ausência de sedimento, a Daphnia laevis (espécie nativa do Brasil) pode ser usada como organismo-teste na avaliação da toxicidade aguda e crônica de inseticidas organofosforados e a base de cobre

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The accumulation of lipid reserves was investigated in two common cladoceran species typical of neotropical freshwaters. Experiments were performed in order to measure differential accumulation of lipid reserves in response to two algal diets, S. quadricauda and A. gracilis. The larger D. laevis fed with the Ankistrodesmus diet accumulated a higher amount of total lipids. The average lipid content for both diets was 1.1% and 22.1% dry weight for Scenedesmus and Ankistrodemsus, respectively. This difference was found to be highly significant. The superior nutritional quality of A. gracilis was confirmed by the experiments using the smaller Moina micrura. This cladoceran accumulated 11.4% and 19.9% of the average dry weight of lipids from Scenedesmus and Ankistrodesmus, respectively. The study also found that most lipid reserves are concentrated as triacylglycerols in both cladocerans. The relative contribution of this class of lipids also varied according to the diet. For Daphnia, for instance, the average triacylglycerol levels varied from 6.2 to 11.0 with the Scenedesmus and Ankistrodesnus diets, respectively.

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