Laboratory for Integrative Studies in Amphibian Biology, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Mar 9;107(10):4612-7. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0909519107. Epub 2010 Mar 1.
The herbicide atrazine is one of the most commonly applied pesticides in the world. As a result, atrazine is the most commonly detected pesticide contaminant of ground, surface, and drinking water. Atrazine is also a potent endocrine disruptor that is active at low, ecologically relevant concentrations. Previous studies showed that atrazine adversely affects amphibian larval development. The present study demonstrates the reproductive consequences of atrazine exposure in adult amphibians. Atrazine-exposed males were both demasculinized (chemically castrated) and completely feminized as adults. Ten percent of the exposed genetic males developed into functional females that copulated with unexposed males and produced viable eggs. Atrazine-exposed males suffered from depressed testosterone, decreased breeding gland size, demasculinized/feminized laryngeal development, suppressed mating behavior, reduced spermatogenesis, and decreased fertility. These data are consistent with effects of atrazine observed in other vertebrate classes. The present findings exemplify the role that atrazine and other endocrine-disrupting pesticides likely play in global amphibian declines.
莠去津是世界上应用最广泛的农药之一。因此，莠去津是地表和饮用水中最常见的农药污染物。莠去津也是一种有效的内分泌干扰物，在低浓度下具有生态相关性。先前的研究表明莠去津会对两栖动物幼虫的发育产生不利影响。本研究证明了莠去津暴露对成年两栖动物的生殖后果。暴露于莠去津的雄性个体既被去势（化学阉割），又完全雌性化。有 10%的暴露遗传雄性个体发育成具有功能的雌性个体，它们与未暴露的雄性个体交配并产生有活力的卵子。暴露于莠去津的雄性个体的睾丸激素水平降低，繁殖腺体积减小，去势/雌性化的喉部发育，交配行为受到抑制，精子发生减少，生育能力下降。这些数据与其他脊椎动物类群中观察到的莠去津的作用一致。本研究结果例证了莠去津和其他内分泌干扰性农药可能在全球两栖动物减少中所起的作用。
