Department of Microbial Ecology, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, PR China.
Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2022 Jan;174:113217. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113217. Epub 2021 Dec 2.
In ecotoxicological studies, some biological responses known as biomarkers can be used as powerful tools to evaluate the ecotoxicity. In this study, we investigated the disparity of responses shown by body-size spectra of periphytic ciliate communities when used as biomarkers to detect the toxicity of the broad-spectrum veternary antibiotic nitrofurazone. Briefly, in chronic exposure experiments ciliate communities were exposed to different concentrations (0, 1, 2, 4 and 8 mg ml) of nitrofurazone. Relative Abundance of ciliates in all body-size categories decreased significantly, whereas their frequency of occurrence and probability densities showed hormetic-like responses in a dose dependent manner. Additionally, body-size distinctness indices were influenced by toxic stress and significantly departed from an expectation at higher nitrofurazone concentrations. Taken together, our results demonstrated that body-size spectra and body-size distinctness offered clear evidence of nitrofurazone toxicity in periphytic ciliates. Body-size spectra can therefore be used as a pivotal biomarker to determine the ecotoxicity of nitrofurazone in aquatic environments.
在生态毒理学研究中，一些被称为生物标志物的生物学反应可以被用作评估生态毒性的有力工具。在这项研究中，我们研究了当用作生物标志物来检测广谱兽用抗生素呋喃唑酮的毒性时，附着生物纤毛虫群落的体型谱的反应差异。简要地说，在慢性暴露实验中，纤毛虫群落暴露于不同浓度（0、1、2、4 和 8 mg ml）的呋喃唑酮。所有体型类别的纤毛虫相对丰度显著降低，而它们的出现频率和概率密度表现出剂量依赖性的激素样反应。此外，体型区分度指数受到毒性胁迫的影响，并在较高的呋喃唑酮浓度下明显偏离预期。总的来说，我们的结果表明，体型谱和体型区分度为附着纤毛虫中的呋喃唑酮毒性提供了明确的证据。因此，体型谱可以用作确定水环境中呋喃唑酮生态毒性的关键生物标志物。
