title: Impaired gonadal and somatic development corroborate vulnerability differences to the synthetic estrogen ethinylestradiol among deeply diverged anuran lineages.
abstract: Amphibians are undergoing a global decline. One poorly investigated reason could be the pollution of aquatic habitats by endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs). We tested the susceptibility to the synthetically stabilized estrogen 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) in three deeply diverged anuran species, differing in sex determination systems, types of gonadogenesis and larval ecologies. To understand whether data from the amphibian model Xenopus laevis (Pipidae) are analogous and applicable to only distantly related non-model amphibians, tadpoles of X. laevis, Hyla arborea (Hylidae) and Bufo viridis (Bufonidae) were simultaneously exposed to 50, 500 and 5000ng/L EE2 from hatching until completion of metamorphosis, using a flow-through-system under identical experimental conditions. Comparing molecularly established genetic with histologically assessed phenotypic sex in all species, we have recently shown that EE2 provoked numerous genetic-male-to-phenotypic-female sex reversals and mixed sex individuals, confirming overall its expected feminizing effect. In the present study, we focus on the influence of EE2 on gonadal and somatic development. Anatomy and histology revealed several species-specific effects. In both non-model species, H. arborea and B. viridis, high numbers of anatomically impaired gonads were observed. In H. arborea, exposed to 5000ng/L EE2, numerous underdeveloped gonads were detected. Whereas EE2 did not alter snout-to-vent length and body weight of X. laevis metamorphs, H. arborea showed a treatment-dependent decrease, while B. viridis exhibited an increase in body weight and snout-to-vent length. Apart from a concentration-dependent occurrence of yellowish skin color in several H. arborea, no organ-specific effects were detected. Since EE2 ubiquitously occurs in many aquatic ecosystems and affects sexual and somatic development, among EDCs, it may indeed contribute to amphibian decline. The inter-species variation in developmental EE2-effects corroborates species-specific vulnerability differences towards EDCs between deeply diverged amphibian groups.
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301 & 310, D-12587 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: tamschick@igb-berlin.de.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tamschick
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Biology and Conservation of Vertebrates, Wroclaw University, Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335 Wroclaw, Poland. Electronic address: beata.rozenblut-koscisty@uwr.edu.pl.
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rozenblut-Kościsty
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Biology and Conservation of Vertebrates, Wroclaw University, Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335 Wroclaw, Poland. Electronic address: maria.ogielska@uwr.edu.pl.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ogielska
authors.affiliation: Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Richard-Willstätter-Str. 11, D-12489 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: Andreas.Lehmann@bam.de.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lehmann
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum of Crete, University of Crete, Knossou Ave., 71409 Heraklion, Crete, Greece. Electronic address: lyberis@nhmc.uoc.gr.
authors.forename: Petros
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lymberakis
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301 & 310, D-12587 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: frauke.hoffmann@igb-berlin.de.
authors.forename: Frauke
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301 & 310, D-12587 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: ilka.lutz@igb-berlin.de.
authors.forename: Ilka
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lutz
authors.affiliation: Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Richard-Willstätter-Str. 11, D-12489 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: Rudolf.Schneider@bam.de.
authors.forename: Rudolf J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301 & 310, D-12587 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: werner.kloas@igb-berlin.de.
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kloas
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301 & 310, D-12587 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: matthias.stoeck@igb-berlin.de.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stöck
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura / Q000254:growth & development*; D049628:Body Size / Q000187:drug effects; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002025:Bufonidae / Q000254:growth & development; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors / Q000633:toxicity; D004997:Ethinyl Estradiol / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D006066:Gonads / Q000187:drug effects*; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008675:Metamorphosis, Biological / Q000187:drug effects*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*; D014982:Xenopus laevis / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D004997:Ethinyl Estradiol
keywords: Bufo viridis; Endocrine disruption; Gonadal impairments; Hyla arborea; Size and weight alterations; Xenopus laevis