Project description:Aquatic organisms, such as fish, are in constant contact with various anthropogenic stressors present in their environments, including contaminants from wastewater treatment plant effluents (WWTPE). WWTPE represents a pervasive source of pharmaceutically active compounds in surface waters This study investigates the effects of WWTPE exposure on Etheostoma spp. (darters) using hepatic transcriptomic profiling. Wild darters—Etheostoma caeruleum (rainbow darter), Etheostoma blennioides (greenside darter), Etheostoma flabellare (fantail darter), and Etheostoma nigrum (Johnny darter)—were collected upstream and downstream of the Waterloo municipal WWTP effluent outfall (Grand River, ON).
Project description:The purpose of this experiment was to assess the effect of a synergistic combination of natural pyrethrin and an ethylacetate extract of Piper nigrum seeds (a botanical insecticide). This effect was compared to the effects of P. nigrum or pyrethrin used alone. Due to the synergistic nature of the mixture, it was predicted that gene expression profiles in this treatment would reflect this effect. Keywords: insecticide response, stress-response