title: Relative sensitivities among avian species to individual and mixtures of aryl hydrocarbon receptor-active compounds.
abstract: Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) are potent toxicants to most vertebrates. Sensitivities to DLCs vary among species. In the present study, the sensitivities of avian species (chicken [Gallus gallus], ring-necked pheasant [Phasianus colchicus], and Japanese quail [Coturnix japonica]) to some polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) were determined by using species-specific, in vitro, transactivation assays based on a luciferase reporter gene under control of species-specific aryl hydrocarbon receptors. In ring-necked pheasant and Japanese quail, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) was not the most potent inducer of toxic effects. Especially for Japanese quail, the relative potency values of most of 9 PCDD/Fs tested were greater than for TCDD. The rank order of avian species sensitivities to DLCs was chicken > ring-necked pheasant > Japanese quail. Effects of binary mixtures of TCDD, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran, and 2,3,4,7,8-pentachlorodibenzofuran were strictly additive. Moreover, we also found that the primary DLCs that were responsible for most of the potency of the DLC mixtures can be deduced by using ordination in a multidimensional space defined by the avian species sensitivities. Overall, the relative potency and the species sensitivities of these chemicals could guide risk assessments to wild species when exposure to mixtures of DLCs in the environment.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Fenghua
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Juanying
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Pu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.|Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences and Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.|Department of Zoology and Center for Integrative Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.|School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Giesy
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001572:Benzofurans / Q000633:toxicity; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics; D003370:Coturnix / Q000235:genetics; D004147:Dioxins / Q000633:toxicity; D000072316:Dioxins and Dioxin-like Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D046094:Galliformes / Q000235:genetics*; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D008156:Luciferases / Q000235:genetics; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins / Q000633:toxicity; D018336:Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
chemical_list: D001572:Benzofurans; D004147:Dioxins; D000072316:Dioxins and Dioxin-like Compounds; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; D018336:Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon; D008156:Luciferases; C020887:dibenzo(1,4)dioxin; C038890:2,3,4,7,8-pentachlorodibenzofuran; C014211:2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran
keywords: Combined effect; Dioxin-like compounds; In vitro; Luciferase; Species sensitivity