S. Vasanth1&2* and P. Subramanian2
1Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Annai Violet College, Ambattur, Chennai-600053.
2Department of Animal Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli-620024
A B S T R A C T
Atrazine is one of the most effective and cheapest herbicides in the world and is consequently used more frequently than any other herbicide. Atrazine is frequently detected in waters, and has been known to affect reproduction of aquatic flora and fauna, which in turn impacts on the community structure as a whole. In the present study we aimed to assess the genotoxic effects of atrazine on Poecilia sphenops using the micronucleus test in peripheral blood erythrocytes. Fish were exposed to atrazine (2.5, 1.25, 0.83 μg/L) and control also maintained simultaneously for 30days. Our outcome revealed significant increases in the frequencies of micronuclei in erythrocytes of Poecilia sphenops, subsequent exposure to atrazine and thus demonstrated the genotoxic potential of this herbicides on fish.
Keywords: Micronuclei, Atrazine, Poecilia sphenops, erythrocytes