Sublethal effect
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In addition to their active ingredients, pesticides contain also additives - surfactants. Use of surfactants has been increasing over the past decade, but their effects on non-target organisms, especially natural enemies of pests, have been studied only very rarely. The effect of three common agrochemical surfactants on the foraging behavior of the wolf spider Pardosa agrestis was studied in the laboratory. Differences in short-term, long-term, and overall cumulative predatory activities were investigated. We found that surfactant treatment significantly affected short-term predatory activity but had no effect on long-term predatory activity. The surfactants also significantly influenced the cumulative number of killed prey. We also found the sex-specific increase in cumulative kills after surfactants treatment. This is the first study showing that pesticide additives have a sublethal effect that can weaken the predatory activity of a potential biological control agent. More studies on the effects of surfactants are needed to understand how they affect beneficial organisms in agroecosystems.
Parasitoids acting as biocontrol agents provide farmers with valuable ecosystem services, but are sensitive to insecticides applied against pests. Besides lethal effects of insecticides, sublethal effects observed among survivors may further influence parasitoids' performance. However, information on sublethal effects is scattered across case studies, without a quantitative synthesis and evaluation of generality of respective data. We conducted an analysis of 85 primary empirical datasets to quantify sublethal effects of insecticide application on two key parameters of parasitoid fitness, offspring production and proportion of females among offspring (i.e. sex ratio). To create a direct link to existing agricultural practices, we primarily focused on studies in which parasitoids were exposed to field-recommended concentrations of insecticides. Insecticide-exposed females produced substantially fewer and more male-biased offspring, accounting for an average of about 28% cumulative loss in parasitoid reproductive capacity per generation. The magnitude of sublethal effects was significantly affected by insecticide mode of action, with broad-spectrum insecticides being particularly harmful to parasitoid reproductive performance. Transgenic crops and toxins derived from such plants were generally associated with weaker sublethal effects than majority of synthetic insecticides. Nevertheless, species responses, even to the same insecticides and transgenic crops, showed high variability, cautioning against extrapolating results from individual studies to a wider range of species. Overall, our results indicate that sublethal side-effects on parasitoid reproductive performance represent a significant and widespread cost of insecticides that should explicitly be taken into account when evaluating their harmfulness. Linking laboratory results to field situations remains a key challenge for future research.
- MeSH
- geneticky modifikované rostliny účinky léků růst a vývoj parazitologie MeSH
- Hymenoptera účinky léků růst a vývoj MeSH
- insekticidy toxicita MeSH
- interakce hostitele a parazita účinky léků MeSH
- LD50 MeSH
- rozmnožování * MeSH
- sexuální faktory MeSH
- zemědělské plodiny účinky léků růst a vývoj parazitologie MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
Staphylococcus aureus is a common biofilm-forming pathogen. Low doses of disinfectants have previously been reported to promote biofilm formation and to increase virulence. The aim of this study was to use transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis to investigate global transcriptional changes in S. aureus in response to sublethal concentrations of the commonly used food industry disinfectants ethanol (EtOH) and chloramine T (ChT) and their combination (EtOH_ChT) in order to better understand the effects of these agents on biofilm formation. Treatment with EtOH and EtOH_ChT resulted in more significantly altered expression profiles than treatment with ChT. Our results revealed that EtOH and EtOH_ChT treatments enhanced the expression of genes responsible for regulation of gene expression (sigB), cell surface factors (clfAB), adhesins (sdrDE), and capsular polysaccharides (cap8EFGL), resulting in more intact biofilm. In addition, in this study we were able to identify the pathways involved in the adaptation of S. aureus to the stress of ChT treatment. Further, EtOH suppressed the effect of ChT on gene expression when these agents were used together at sublethal concentrations. These data show that in the presence of sublethal concentrations of tested disinfectants, S. aureus cells trigger protective mechanisms and try to cope with them.IMPORTANCE So far, the effect of disinfectants is not satisfactorily explained. The presented data will allow a better understanding of the mode of disinfectant action with regard to biofilm formation and the ability of bacteria to survive the treatment. Such an understanding could contribute to the effort to eliminate possible sources of bacteria, making disinfectant application as efficient as possible. Biofilm formation plays significant role in the spread and pathogenesis of bacterial species.
- MeSH
- biofilmy účinky léků MeSH
- chloraminy farmakologie MeSH
- dezinficiencia farmakologie MeSH
- ethanol farmakologie MeSH
- sekvenční analýza RNA MeSH
- stanovení celkové genové exprese MeSH
- Staphylococcus aureus účinky léků genetika fyziologie MeSH
- transkriptom * MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
Sublethal concentrations (sub-MICs) of certain disinfectants are no longer effective in removing biofilms from abiotic surfaces and can even promote the formation of biofilms. Bacterial cells can probably adapt to these low concentrations of disinfectants and defend themselves by way of biofilm formation. In this paper, we report on three Staphylococcus aureus biofilm formers (strong B+++, moderate B++, and weak B+) that were cultivated with sub-MICs of commonly used disinfectants, ethanol or chloramine T, and quantified using Syto9 green fluorogenic nucleic acid stain. We demonstrate that 1.25-2.5% ethanol and 2500 μg/mL chloramine T significantly enhanced S. aureus biofilm formation. To visualize differences in biofilm compactness between S. aureus biofilms in control medium, 1.25% ethanol, or 2500 μg/mL chloramine T, scanning electron microscopy was used. To describe changes in abundance of surface-exposed proteins in ethanol- or chloramine T-treated biofilms, surface proteins were prepared using a novel trypsin shaving approach and quantified after dimethyl labeling by LC-LTQ/Orbitrap MS. Our data show that some proteins with adhesive functions and others with cell maintenance functions and virulence factor EsxA were significantly upregulated by both treatments. In contrast, immunoglobulin-binding protein A was significantly downregulated for both disinfectants. Significant differences were observed in the effect of the two disinfectants on the expression of surface proteins including some adhesins, foldase protein PrsA, and two virulence factors.
- MeSH
- bakteriální proteiny metabolismus MeSH
- biofilmy účinky léků růst a vývoj MeSH
- dezinficiencia aplikace a dávkování MeSH
- druhová specificita MeSH
- membránové proteiny metabolismus MeSH
- potravinářská mikrobiologie * MeSH
- regulace genové exprese u bakterií účinky léků fyziologie MeSH
- Staphylococcus aureus klasifikace účinky léků metabolismus MeSH
- viabilita buněk účinky léků MeSH
- vztah mezi dávkou a účinkem léčiva MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
OBJECTIVES: The causative agent of tularemia Francisella tularensis is highly infectious and lagomorphs are important reservoirs and a source of human disease. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that sublethal exposure to pesticides increases the susceptibility of hares to F. tularensis and modulates the course of the infection. METHODS: Experimental hares were allocated to a) control, b) paraoxon-treated, c) F. tularensis-treated, and d) paraoxon-and-F. tularensis-treated groups of five specimens on a random basis and subcutaneously inoculated with a wild F. tularensis subsp. holarctica strain (a single dose of 9 × 108 CFU pro toto) and/or injected a sublethal dose of paraoxon (100 μg/kg). Group differences were evaluated using survival curves, oxidative stress responses as well as caspase-3 and acetylcholinesterase activities in whole blood samples collected on day 2 post exposure. RESULTS: The paraoxon-and-F. tularensis-treated group showed a rapid onset of clinical signs and all deaths occurred on days 2 and 3 post exposure. F. tularensis-inoculated hares survived from 3 to 10 days, while only one hare died on day 12 in the paraoxon-treated group. Survival curves in the three exposed groups were significantly different from the control and median survival in F. tularensis-inoculated and paraoxon-and-F. tularensis-treated hares amounted to 7 and 2 days, respectively. Compared with controls, significant responses included an eight- and seven-fold activation of caspase-3 in F. tularensis-inoculated and paraoxon-and-F. tularensis-treated hares, respectively, and a 1.5-fold decrease of blood acetylcholinesterase activities in the paraoxon-treated and paraoxon-and-F. tularensis-treated groups. There was a 1.3- to 1.4-fold decrease of the ferric reducing antioxidant power in blood of F. tularensis-inoculated hares and the paraoxon-and-F. tularensis-treated group, respectively. The blood lipid peroxidation levels were of no differences among the four experimental groups. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study can help understand the pathogenesis of tularemia and mortality of hares in agricultural habitats. Use of anticholinesterase agents in agriculture can pose a threat of infectious disease outbreaks and higher mortality in wildlife populations.
- MeSH
- acetylcholinesterasa krev metabolismus MeSH
- analýza přežití MeSH
- antioxidancia metabolismus MeSH
- cholinesterasové inhibitory toxicita MeSH
- Francisella tularensis patogenita fyziologie MeSH
- insekticidy toxicita MeSH
- kaspasa 3 krev metabolismus MeSH
- náhodné rozdělení MeSH
- paraoxon toxicita MeSH
- tularemie krev mortalita patologie MeSH
- vystavení vlivu životního prostředí MeSH
- zajíci MeSH
- zdroje nemoci MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- hodnotící studie MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- srovnávací studie MeSH
