Advisory Committee Chair
Robert A Angus
Advisory Committee Members
Larry R Boots
William M Howell
Douglas R Watson
Stephen A Watts
Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
2009
Degree Name by School
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) College of Arts and Sciences
Abstract
Chemicals introduced into the environment by anthropogenic activities have the capacity to interfere with the endocrine system of living organisms and act as endocrine disrup-tors. To date, most studies have focused on estrogenic endocrine disruptors but reports of androgenic endocrine disruptors continue to increase. In the current study, the western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis was utilized as a model organism to assess the effects of some known and suspected androgenic and estrogenic endocrine disruptors on various reproductive biomarkers. The biomarkers utilized were: anal fin elongation and differen-tiation, expression of the vitellogenin gene, and sperm production in males. In the studies described in this dissertation, mosquitofish were exposed via the static renewal method to four known or suspected endocrine disruptors: progesterone, methyltestosterone, spiro-nolactone and triclosan. In each case, dose-dependent effects on the biomarkers were ob-served, indicating that these chemicals have the potential to act as endocrine disruptors. We conclude that reproductive biomarkers in the western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis used in these studies are suitable for future endocrine disruption studies.
Recommended Citation
Raut, Samiksha Ashok, "Effects of endocrine disruptors on biomarkers of reproductive function in the western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis" (2009). All ETDs from UAB. 2796.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/2796