Journal or Publishing Institution: GMLS
Date of Publication: 01/01/2013
Author(s): Carrasco, A.E.
Article Type: Report
Abstract:
In South America, the incorporation of genetically modified organisms (GMO) engineered to be resistant to pesticides changed the agricultural model into one dependent on the massive use of agrochemicals. Different pesticides are used in response to the demands of the global consuming market to control weeds, herbivorous arthropods, and crop diseases. A recent study using a commercial formulation of glyphosate based herbicides (GBH) showed that treatments with a 1/5000 dilution (430 µM of glyphosate) were sufficient to induce reproducible malformations in embryos of the South African clawed frog Xenopus laevis, a widely used vertebrate model for embryological studies. The phenotypes observed include shortening of the trunk, cephalic reduction, microphthalmy, cyclopia, reduction of the neural crest territory at neurula stages and craniofacial malformations at tadpole stages. In addition GBH inhibits the anterior expression domain of the morphogen Sonic Hedgehog (shh) and reduces the domain of the cephalic marker otx2, prevents the subdivision of the eye field and impairs craniofacial development. Moreover, in recent experiments with another commercial formulation of GBH, the malformations observed before were reproduced in a dosedependent manner, even at dilutions of 1/500000, which produced developmental abnormalities in 17% of the embryos, without lethality (unpublished results).
Keywords: genetically modified organisms, pesticide resistant, glyphosate based herbicides, embryos, developmental abnormalities, South African clawed frog Xenopus laevis, glyphosate, pesticides, herbicides
Citation:
Carrasco, A., 2013. Teratogenesis by glyphosate based herbicides and other pesticides. Relationship with the retinoic acid pathway. GM-Crop Cultivation – Ecological Effects on Grand Scale (GMLS), 24.
Category:
- Environmental effects
- Pesticide use
Record ID: 305
