Effects of atrazine short-term exposure on jumping ability and intestinal microbiota diversity in male Pelophylax nigromaculatus adults.

Abstract

Atrazine, a common chemical pesticide, has toxicity to adult and juvenile amphibians in natural ecosystems; however, it is more common to study its effects on larvae instead of adults. This study assessed the impacts of atrazine in water through short-term exposure (7 days) on male black spotted frog (Pelophylax nigromaculatus) adults fed every day. The jumping ability, including jumping height, distance, time, and speed, was measured by 3D motion analysis software, and the intestinal content microbiota was determined by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing with QIIME software. The results showed that male P. nigromaculatus exposure to 200 and 500 μg/L atrazine significantly increased jumping distance and jumping time compared to control groups. Conversely, 500 μg/L atrazine treatments significantly decreased the diversity and changed the composition and structure of intestinal content microflora in male P. nigromaculatus compared to control groups. At the phylum level, Chlamydiae was only detected in the control group, and Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, and Proteobacteria were the dominant microflora in the atrazine treatment groups. At the genus level, the abundance of Lactobacillus and Weissella significantly increased in atrazine treatment groups compared to control groups. This study can provide a new framework based on movement behavior and intestinal microbiota to evaluate the response of amphibians to short-term exposure to environmental pollution.