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Effects of Copper on the Neuromasts of Xenopus Laevis

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Abstract

Fish and aquatic amphibians possess neuromasts on the surface of their body that constitute the lateral line, a sensory system used to detect water displacement. Copper is known to inactivate the neuromast organs of this system. Copper-induced neuromast loss in African clawed frogs, Xenopus laevis, was examined by exposing Nieuwkoop-Faber stage 54–55 larvae to copper concentrations of 0, 100, 200, 300, and 400 µg/L for 96 h, followed by an examination of neuromast counts, staining intensity, and behavioral responses. Neuromasts were counted using a novel imaging method across four different body regions: the whole body, partial body, head, and tail. Neuromast counts showed a decreasing, but nonsignificant, trend across increasing levels of copper exposure. Intensity of neuromast staining showed a stronger concentration-dependent decrease in all four body regions. The decrease in staining intensity, but not neuromast number, may indicate that although neuromasts are still functioning, they have a decreased number of viable hair cells. Potential loss of responsiveness related to neuromast damage was examined via sensitivity to puffs of air at varying distances. We detected little to no difference in response to the air puff stimulus between control tadpoles and tadpoles exposed to 400 µg/L of copper. Neuromasts of X. laevis may be more resistant to copper than those of North American tadpole species, possibly suggesting greater tolerance of the lateral line to environmental stressors in species that maintain this sensory system throughout their lifespan as compared with species that only have the lateral line during the larval period.

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Code Availability

The SAS codes used in data analysis are available from the corresponding author on request.

Availability of Data and Material

The datasets from the current study are available from the corresponding author on request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Oklahoma State University Department of Integrative Biology for their financial support. They also thank Dr. Doug Fort of Fort Environmental Laboratories for donating tadpole food and larvae for preliminary trials, as well as his help and advice regarding animal husbandry; Emily Glotfelty for helping design the behavioral assay; Dr. Carla Goad for advice on statistics; and Dr. Ryan Sherman and Joel Hickey for assistance with the ICP-OES.

Funding

Funding was provided by the Oklahoma State University Department of Integrative Biology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, 501 Life Sciences West, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA

    Paige M. Krupa, Scott T. McMurry, Matteo Minghetti & Jason B. Belden

Authors
  1. Paige M. Krupa
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  2. Scott T. McMurry
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  3. Matteo Minghetti
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  4. Jason B. Belden
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Contributions

PK: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, writing: original draft, visualization, project administration. SM: Supervision, writing: review and editing, resources, funding acquisition. MM: methodology (neuromast imaging and quantification), resources, supervision, writing: review and editing. JB: resources, supervision, writing: review and editing.

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Correspondence to Paige M. Krupa.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was performed under an approved Animal Care and Use Protocol through the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, Oklahoma State University (ACUP AS-18-3).

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Krupa, P.M., McMurry, S.T., Minghetti, M. et al. Effects of Copper on the Neuromasts of Xenopus Laevis. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 80, 769–778 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-020-00778-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-020-00778-z

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