Combined toxicity assessment of myclobutanil and thiamethoxam to zebrafish embryos employing multi-endpoints.

It is necessary to understand the interactions between different pesticides in ecotoxicology because pesticides never appear as individual compounds but rather in combinations with other compounds. In this study, we planned to explicate the combined toxic effect of myclobutanil (MYC) and thiamethoxam (THI) on the zebrafish (Danio rerio) by adopting multiple biomarkers. Results unraveled that the 96-h LC50 values of MYC to D. rerio at various life phases ranged from 5.2 to 10.3 mg L-1, which were lower than those of THI ranging from 147 to 246 mg L-1. Combinations of MYC and THI exhibited synergetic toxicity to zebrafish embryos. The activities of antioxidative enzymes (T-SOD, Cu/Zn-SOD and POD) and detoxification enzyme (GST) were obviously varied in most of the MYC, THI and combined exposures compared to the control. The mRNA expressions of eight genes (Cu-sod, cas3, il-8, cxcl, erα, crh, cyp17 and dio1) involved in antioxidation, apoptosis, immunity and endocrine were obviously altered in the combined exposure of MYC and THI compared to their individual exposures. Our findings hinted the threats when YMC and THI co-existed, which would be beneficial for the risk assessments of pesticide mixtures.

Reduction of the fitness cost of antibiotic resistance caused by chromosomal mutations under poor nutrient conditions.

The prevalence of antibiotic resistance in drinking water system is pressing public health risk. Antibiotic resistance conferred by chromosomal mutations often produces fitness cost, which may affect its spread and persistence. In this study, the rifampin-resistant strains were competed with their wild-type counterparts at different nutrient levels. It was observed that the ratio of the absolute number between resistant and wild-type cells quickly decreased under rich nutrient conditions, but it slowly reduced or remained stable in the poor nutrient medium. This finding suggested that poor nutrient conditions resulted in the reduction of fitness cost of antibiotic resistance, i.e. the resistant bacteria became more competitive. Implying mechanisms analysis found that the differences of metabolic activity between wild-type and rifampin-resistant strains was significant smaller (P < 0.05) at low nutrient levels. Additionally, distinguishable large colony size rifampin-resistant strains were observed during competition assay. DNA sequencing of RNA polymerase subunit genes further revealed that these colonies could be adaptive mutants from wild-type strain in rpoB gene. To our knowledge, this is the first study to reveal that the oligotrophic conditions facilitate the persistence of antibiotic resistance in drinking water by reducing the fitness cost of the resistant strains.

Assessment on the removal of dimethyl phthalate from aqueous phase using a hydrophilic hyper-cross-linked polymer resin NDA-702.

A hydrophilic hyper-cross-linked polymer resin (NDA-702) was synthesized, and the adsorption performance of dimethyl phthalate (DMP) on NDA-702 was compared with that on the commercial hydrophobic macroporous resin (Amberlite XAD-4) and granular activated carbon (AC-750). The kinetic adsorption of DMP onto NDA-702 and AC-750 is limited mainly by intraparticle diffusion and obeys the pseudo-second-order rate model, while the uptake on XAD-4 is limited mainly by film diffusion and follows the pseudo-first-order rate model. All the associated adsorption isotherms are well described by the Freundlich equation, and the larger uptake and stronger affinity of NDA-702 than AC-750 and XAD-4 probably result from the microporous structure, phenyl rings, and polar groups on NDA-702 polymer matrix. An interesting observation is that in the aqueous phase all the adsorbents spontaneously adsorb DMP driven mainly by enthalpy change, but the hydrophilic nature of NDA-702 and AC-750 surfaces results in less entropy change compared to hydrophobic XAD-4. Dynamic adsorption studies show that the high breakthrough and the total adsorption capacities of NDA-702 are 388 and 559 mg per gram dry resin at 313 K. Nearly 100% regeneration efficiency for the resin was achieved by methanol at 313 K.