Assessment of adverse effects of olive mill waste water and olive mill waste contaminated soil on springtail Folsomia candida.

In recent years significant attention has been given to the problem of olive mill waste towards the environment. Still, there is a considerable gap in the knowledge of the impact of the olive mill wastewater (OMWW) and the olive mill waste contaminated soil (OMW CS) on non-target soil organisms. Springtails, as an important group of non-target soil organisms, are frequently used in ecotoxicological research. However, information on olive mill waste impact on the model species Folsomia candida is scarce. Therefore, in this study, we determined the effects of OMWW and OMW CS on survival, reproduction, neurotoxicity, oxidative stress, and available energy in springtail F. candida. The exposure to different ratios of OMWW and OMW CS showed higher toxicity of OMW CS in terms of survival (LC50 = 32.34% of OMWW; LC50 = 45.36% of OMW CS) and reproduction (EC50 = 10.10% of OMWW; EC50 = 19.44% of OMW CS). Furthermore, neurotoxicity (AChE induction), oxidative stress (SOD, GST, and MDA induction), and changes in available energy (decrease in lipid and carbohydrate content) have been observed. Those negative effects are likely consequences of the high phenol content specific to OMWW and OMW CS. Obtained results indicate that for the ecotoxicological assessment of various wastes it is essential to consider different tier level biomarkers to have a clear insight into the mechanism of action.

Influence of nano and bulk copper on agile frog development.

Nanotechnology, as one of the fastest-growing industries, offers many benefits in various fields. However, properties that contribute to its positive effects, in other context, can cause adverse effects to various organisms, such as amphibians. Identifying possible negative effects on its survival is crucial since amphibians are the most threatened group of vertebrates. In that context, we investigated the influence of both nano and bulk copper on embryonic development of agile frog, Rana dalmatina. The embryos were exposed to various concentrations (0.01 mg/L, 0.075 mg/L, 0.15 mg/L or 0.3 mg/L) of either nano (CuO, declared size 40-80 nm) or bulk form (CuSO4·5H2O) for 16 days. Upon the experiment, tadpoles were measured and weighted, then homogenized and their protein, lipid, and carbohydrates content determined, as well as the activity of LDH. Our results suggest stronger negative influence of nano copper to size and weight of tadpoles, and bulk copper on lipid content, while both had strong negative effect on carbohydrates content, and LDH activity. In addition, our results suggest agile frog to be more susceptible to negative influence of both, nano and bulk copper, than commonly used Xenopus laevis.

Functional genomics of abiotic environmental adaptation in lacertid lizards and other vertebrates.

Understanding the genomic basis of adaptation to different abiotic environments is important in the context of climate change and resulting short-term environmental fluctuations. Using functional and comparative genomics approaches, we here investigated whether signatures of genomic adaptation to a set of environmental parameters are concentrated in specific subsets of genes and functions in lacertid lizards and other vertebrates. We first identify 200 genes with signatures of positive diversifying selection from transcriptomes of 24 species of lacertid lizards and demonstrate their involvement in physiological and morphological adaptations to climate. To understand how functionally similar these genes are to previously predicted candidate functions for climate adaptation and to compare them with other vertebrate species, we then performed a meta-analysis of 1,100 genes under selection obtained from -omics studies in vertebrate species adapted to different abiotic factors. We found that the vertebrate gene set formed a tightly connected interactome, which was to 23% enriched in previously predicted functions of adaptation to climate, and to a large part (18%) involved in organismal stress response. We found a much higher degree of identical genes being repeatedly selected among different animal groups (43.6%), and of functional similarity and post-translational modifications than expected by chance, and no clear functional division between genes used for ectotherm and endotherm physiological strategies. In total, 171 out of 200 genes of Lacertidae were part of this network. These results highlight an important role of a comparatively small set of genes and their functions in environmental adaptation and narrow the set of candidate pathways and markers to be used in future research on adaptation and stress response related to climate change.

Environmental temperatures shape thermal physiology as well as diversification and genome-wide substitution rates in lizards.

Climatic conditions changing over time and space shape the evolution of organisms at multiple levels, including temperate lizards in the family Lacertidae. Here we reconstruct a dated phylogenetic tree of 262 lacertid species based on a supermatrix relying on novel phylogenomic datasets and fossil calibrations. Diversification of lacertids was accompanied by an increasing disparity among occupied bioclimatic niches, especially in the last 10 Ma, during a period of progressive global cooling. Temperate species also underwent a genome-wide slowdown in molecular substitution rates compared to tropical and desert-adapted lacertids. Evaporative water loss and preferred temperature are correlated with bioclimatic parameters, indicating physiological adaptations to climate. Tropical, but also some populations of cool-adapted species experience maximum temperatures close to their preferred temperatures. We hypothesize these species-specific physiological preferences may constitute a handicap to prevail under rapid global warming, and contribute to explaining local lizard extinctions in cool and humid climates.

Influence of soil temperature and moisture on biochemical biomarkers in earthworm and microbial activity after exposure to propiconazole and chlorantraniliprole.

Predicted climate change could impact the effects that various chemicals have on organisms. Increased temperature or change in precipitation regime could either enhance or lower toxicity of pesticides. The aim of this study is to assess how change in temperature and soil moisture affect biochemical biomarkers in Eisenia fetida earthworm and microbial activity in their excrements after exposure to a fungicide - propiconazole (PCZ) and an insecticide - chlorantraniliprole (CAP). For seven days, earthworms were exposed to the pesticides under four environmental conditions comprising combinations of two different temperatures (20°C and 25°C) and two different soil water holding capacities (30% and 50%). After exposure, in the collected earthworm casts the microbial activity was measured through dehydrogenase activity (DHA) and biofilm forming ability (BFA), and in the postmitochondrial fraction of earthworms the activities of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), catalase (CAT) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) respectively. The temperature and the soil moisture affected enzyme activities and organism's response to pesticides. It was determined that a three-way interaction (pesticide concentration, temperature and moisture) is statistically significant for the CAT and GST after the CAP exposure, and for the AChE and CAT after the PCZ exposure. Interestingly, the AChE activity was induced by both pesticides at a higher temperature tested. The most important two-way interaction that was determined occurred between the concentration and temperature applied. DHA and BFA, as markers of microbial activity, were unevenly affected by PCZ, CAP and environmental conditions. The results of this experiment demonstrate that experiments with at least two different environmental conditions can give a very good insight into some possible effects that the climate change could have on the toxicity of pesticides. The interaction of environmental factors should play a more important role in the risk assessments for pesticides.