title: Behavioural effect of low-dose BPA on male zebrafish: Tuning of male mating competition and female mating preference during courtship process.
abstract: The ubiquity of environmental pollution by endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as bisphenol A (BPA) is progressively considered as a major threat to aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Numerous toxicological studies have proved that BPA are hazardous to aquatic environment, along with alterations in the development and physiology of aquatic vertebrates. However, generally, there is a paucity in knowledge of behavioural and physiological effects of BPA with low concentration, for example, 0.22 nM (50 ng/L) and 2.2 nM (500 ng/L). Here we show that treatment of adult male zebrafish (Danio rerio) with 7 weeks low-dose (0.22 nM-2.2 nM) BPA, resulted in alteration in histological structure of testis tissue and abnormality in expression levels of genes involved in testicular steroidogenesis. Furthermore, low-dose BPA treatment decreased the male locomotion during courtship; and was associated with less courtship behaviours to female but more aggressive behaviours to mating competitor. Interestingly, during the courtship test, we observed that female preferred control male to male under low-dose BPA exposure. Subsequently, we found that the ability of female to chose optimal mating male through socially mutual interaction and dynamics of male zebrafish, which was based on visual discrimination. In sum, our results shed light on the potential behavioural and physiological effect of low-dose BPA exposure on courtship behaviours of zebrafish, which could exert profound consequences on natural zebrafish populations.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: The Institute of Robotics and Automatic Information Systems, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Intelligent Robotics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
authors.forename: Jia-Yu
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Tumor Microenvironment and Neurovascular Regulation, Department of Histology and Embryology, School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhong-Guan-Cun East Road 55, Beijing 100190, China.
authors.forename: Hai-Jun
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
authors.forename: Shu-Hui
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Dong
authors.initials: XD
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Tumor Microenvironment and Neurovascular Regulation, Department of Histology and Embryology, School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China. Electronic address: chendy@nankai.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Dong-Yan
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: The Institute of Robotics and Automatic Information Systems, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Intelligent Robotics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China. Electronic address: fangyc@nankai.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yong-Chun
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China. Electronic address: xzfeng@nankai.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xi-Zeng
authors.initials: XZ
authors.lastname: Feng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D001559:Benzhydryl Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D003380:Courtship / Q000523:psychology*; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors / Q000633:toxicity*; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D010636:Phenols / Q000633:toxicity*; D012919:Social Behavior; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000502:physiology*; D000098826:Bisphenol A Compounds
chemical_list: D001559:Benzhydryl Compounds; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D010636:Phenols; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C006780:bisphenol A; D000098826:Bisphenol A Compounds
keywords: Behavior; Courtship; Low-dose bisphenol A; Zebrafish