Toxicity evaluation of Wanzhou watershed of Yangtze Three Gorges Reservoir in the flood season in Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) in the upper stream of Yangtze River in China is a reservoir with the largest and the longest yearly water-level drop. Considering the fact that most of safety assessments of water samples collected from TGR region were based on chemical analysis, we here employed Caenorhabditis elegans to perform in vivo safety assessment of original surface water samples collected from TGR region in the flood season in Wanzhou, Chongqing. Among the examined five original surface water samples, only exposure to original surface water sample collected from backwater area could induce the significant intestinal ROS production, enhance the intestinal permeability, and decrease the locomotion behavior. Additionally, exposure to original surface water sample collected from backwater area altered the expressions of sod-2, sod-5, clk-1, and mev-1. Moreover, mutation of sod-2 or sod-5 was susceptible to the potential toxicity of original surface water sample collected from backwater area on nematodes. Together, our results imply that exposure to surface water sample from the backwater area may at least cause the adverse effects on intestinal function and locomotion behavior in nematodes.