The effetc of pesticides (kraft and score) and temperature on Folsomia candida transcriptional regulation

• Grant number: 17/06944-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: July 15, 2017
• End date: March 01, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Evaldo Luiz Gaeta Espindola
• Grantee: Livia Pitombeira de Figueirêdo
• Supervisor: Theodorus Frank Maria Roelofs
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University Amsterdam (VU), Netherlands
• Associated to the scholarship: 15/24628-4 - Analysis of temperature influence on destination and pesticide toxicity in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems using integrated experimental systems, BP.DR

Abstract

Studies on pesticides have demonstrated that the side effects range from endocrinal alterations, development, immunological functioning, behavior, as well as death of organisms. However, recent development of new technologies, new parameters have been used, in what it is now called the omic era, with studies in molecular scale, including genes, proteins, metabolites, as well as other molecules used in both diagnose and prognostic of cellular processes. That has been shown to be a promising tool in assessing the effects of contaminants in environments, since gene expression is specific to the type of stress, in addition to being sensitive to concentrations of very low contaminants and still responding in a few hours. Between the species utilized in terrestrial ecotoxicology bioassays, Folsomia candida (Collembola, Isotomidae) are the most important, are often use in toxicity tests, with standardized protocol by the International Organization for Standardization - ISO, which assess reproduction and survival of these organism. In addition to the harmful effects of pesticides, it has been the common practice of farmers to increase the recommended dose recommended, reapply in non-regular intervals and combine different pesticides, creating a scenario of even higher risk for health safety and well as for the safety of the ecosystem. Moreover, other factors that deserve attention in the world-wide scenario is the implications of climate change, due to expected rise in temperatures and toxicity of these compounds. On this, the objective of this research is analyze the gene expression of Folsomia candida when exposed to the Kraft® and Score® pesticides, applied stand-alone and in combination, under different conditions of temperatures, aiming to identify whether the application method and the rise of temperature can modify the genetic expression and the other related biological processes. OECD soil (70% sand, 20% kaolinite clay and 10% peat) will be used (after mix 24 h prior to the exposure to equilibrate) to evaluate the effects of temperature and pesticides on Folsomia candida. Thirty organisms of F. candida will exposed to 23 and 33°C for 3 days, with 5 replicates per treatment. The pesticides abamectin (Cheminova®) and difenoconazole (Singenta®) will be used isolate and in mixture considering both temperature. The animals are also exposed to non-contaminated soil functioning as a control (clean reference). RNA isolations and Q-PCR will be realized. Q-PCR threshold cycles will be measured using Option Monitor 3 software (Biorad) using a baseline subtraction and a manual threshold setting of 0.005. Relative normalized expression values compared to the reference gene will be calculated using Q-Gene software according to the manual including primer pair efficiencies. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DE FIGUEIREDO, LIVIA PITOMBEIRA; DAAM, MICHIEL A.; MAINARDI, GIULIA; MARIEN, JANINE; ESPINDOLA, EVALDO L. G.; VAN GESTEL, CORNELIS A. M.; ROELOFS, DICK. The use of gene expression to unravel the single and mixture toxicity of abamectin and difenoconazole on survival and reproduction of the springtail Folsomia candida. Environmental Pollution, v. 244, p. 342-350, JAN 2019. (17/06944-1, 15/24628-4)