Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute Sign up for PNAS Online eTocs
Link: Info for AuthorsLink: Editorial BoardLink: AboutLink: SubscribeLink: AdvertiseLink: ContactLink: Sitemap Link: PNAS Home
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Link: Current Issue "" Link: Archives "" Link: Online Submission ""  Link: Advanced Search


PNAS | April 16, 2002 | vol. 99 | no. 8 | 5476-5480
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a colleague
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Copyright Permission
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (248)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hayes, T. B.
Right arrow Articles by Vonk, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hayes, T. B.
Right arrow Articles by Vonk, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg  
What's this?

 Previous Article  | Table of Contents |  Next Article 

Ecology
 Hermaphroditic, demasculinized frogs after exposure to the herbicide atrazine at low ecologically relevant doses

Tyrone B. Hayes*, Atif Collins, Melissa Lee, Magdelena Mendoza, Nigel Noriega, A. Ali Stuart, and Aaron Vonk

Laboratory for Integrative Studies in Amphibian Biology, Group in Endocrinology, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140

Communicated by David B. Wake, University of California, Berkeley, CA, March 1, 2002 (received for review December 20, 2001)

Atrazine is the most commonly used herbicide in the U.S. and probably the world. It can be present at several parts per million in agricultural runoff and can reach 40 parts per billion (ppb) in precipitation. We examined the effects of atrazine on sexual development in African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis). Larvae were exposed to atrazine (0.01-200 ppb) by immersion throughout larval development, and we examined gonadal histology and laryngeal size at metamorphosis. Atrazine (>= 0.1 ppb) induced hermaphroditism and demasculinized the larynges of exposed males (>= 1.0 ppb). In addition, we examined plasma testosterone levels in sexually mature males. Male X. laevis suffered a 10-fold decrease in testosterone levels when exposed to 25 ppb atrazine. We hypothesize that atrazine induces aromatase and promotes the conversion of testosterone to estrogen. This disruption in steroidogenesis likely explains the demasculinization of the male larynx and the production of hermaphrodites. The effective levels reported in the current study are realistic exposures that suggest that other amphibian species exposed to atrazine in the wild could be at risk of impaired sexual development. This widespread compound and other environmental endocrine disruptors may be a factor in global amphibian declines.

* To whom reprint requests should be addressed. E-mail: tyrone{at}socrates.berkeley.edu.

www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.082121499
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles in HighWire Press-hosted journals:


Home page
 MycologiaHome page
A. Chandra and D. R. Huff
Salmacisia, a new genus of Tilletiales: reclassification of Tilletia buchloeana causing induced hermaphroditism in buffalograss
Mycologia, January 1, 2008; 100(1): 81 - 93.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
A. Hamdoun and D. Epel
Embryo stability and vulnerability in an always changing world
PNAS, February 6, 2007; 104(6): 1745 - 1750.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Toxicol SciHome page
J. T. Sanderson
The Steroid Hormone Biosynthesis Pathway as a Target for Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals
Toxicol. Sci., November 1, 2006; 94(1): 3 - 21.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Poult. Sci.Home page
S. Matsushita, J. Yamashita, T. Iwasawa, T. Tomita, and M. Ikeda
Effects of in ovo exposure to imazalil and atrazine on sexual differentiation in chick gonads.
Poult. Sci., September 1, 2006; 85(9): 1641 - 1647.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Toxicol SciHome page
G. Giusi, R. M. Facciolo, M. Canonaco, E. Alleva, V. Belloni, F. Dessi'-Fulgheri, and D. Santucci
The Endocrine Disruptor Atrazine Accounts for a Dimorphic Somatostatinergic Neuronal Expression Pattern in Mice
Toxicol. Sci., January 1, 2006; 89(1): 257 - 264.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Environ. Qual.Home page
K. Wenger, L. Bigler, M. J.-F. Suter, R. Schonenberger, S. K. Gupta, and R. Schulin
Effect of Corn Root Exudates on the Degradation of Atrazine and Its Chlorinated Metabolites in Soils
J. Environ. Qual., November 7, 2005; 34(6): 2187 - 2196.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Toxicol SciHome page
M. Hecker, J.-W. Park, M. B. Murphy, P. D. Jones, K. R. Solomon, G. Van Der Kraak, J. A. Carr, E. E. Smith, L. du Preez, R. J. Kendall, et al.
Effects of Atrazine on CYP19 Gene Expression and Aromatase Activity in Testes and on Plasma Sex Steroid Concentrations of Male African Clawed Frogs (Xenopus laevis)
Toxicol. Sci., August 1, 2005; 86(2): 273 - 280.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. Public HealthHome page
R. L. Melnick
A Daubert Motion: A Legal Strategy to Exclude Essential Scientific Evidence in Toxic Tort Litigation
Am J Public Health, July 1, 2005; 95(S1): S30 - S34.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Toxicol SciHome page
K. W. Wilhelms, S. A. Cutler, J. A. Proudman, L. L. Anderson, and C. G. Scanes
Atrazine and the Hypothalamo-Pituitary-Gonadal Axis in Sexually Maturing Precocial Birds: Studies in Male Japanese Quail
Toxicol. Sci., July 1, 2005; 86(1): 152 - 160.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Integr. Comp. Biol.Home page
T. B. Hayes
Welcome to the Revolution: Integrative Biology and Assessing the Impact of Endocrine Disruptors on Environmental and Public Health
Integr. Comp. Biol., April 1, 2005; 45(2): 321 - 329.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Toxicol SciHome page
D. J. Fort, J. H. Thomas, R. L. Rogers, A. Noll, C. D. Spaulding, P. D. Guiney, and J. A. Weeks
Evaluation of the Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity of Methoxychlor using an Anuran (Xenopus tropicalis) Chronic Exposure Model
Toxicol. Sci., October 1, 2004; 81(2): 443 - 453.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Toxicol SciHome page
D. J. Fort, P. D. Guiney, J. A. Weeks, J. H. Thomas, R. L. Rogers, A. M. Noll, and C. D. Spaulding
Effect of Methoxychlor on Various Life Stages of Xenopus laevis
Toxicol. Sci., October 1, 2004; 81(2): 454 - 466.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Toxicol SciHome page
K. Hilscherova, P. D. Jones, T. Gracia, J. L. Newsted, X. Zhang, J. T. Sanderson, R. M. K. Yu, R. S. S. Wu, and J. P. Giesy
Assessment of the Effects of Chemicals on the Expression of Ten Steroidogenic Genes in the H295R Cell Line Using Real-Time PCR
Toxicol. Sci., September 1, 2004; 81(1): 78 - 89.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Toxicol SciHome page
E. L. Abel, S. M. Opp, C. L. M. J. Verlinde, T. K. Bammler, and D. L. Eaton
Characterization of Atrazine Biotransformation by Human and Murine Glutathione S-Transferases
Toxicol. Sci., August 1, 2004; 80(2): 230 - 238.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
I. Rot-Nikcevic and R. J. Wassersug
Arrested development in Xenopus laevis tadpoles: how size constrains metamorphosis
J. Exp. Biol., May 15, 2004; 207(12): 2133 - 2145.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Appl. Environ. Microbiol.Home page
V. Garcia-Gonzalez, F. Govantes, L. J. Shaw, R. G. Burns, and E. Santero
Nitrogen Control of Atrazine Utilization in Pseudomonas sp. Strain ADP
Appl. Envir. Microbiol., December 1, 2003; 69(12): 6987 - 6993.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
J. M. Kiesecker
From the Cover: Synergism between trematode infection and pesticide exposure: A link to amphibian limb deformities in nature?
PNAS, July 23, 2002; 99(15): 9900 - 9904.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]