Atrazine and its degradates have little effect on the corticosteroid stress response in the zebrafish.

The present study examined the effects of atrazine on basal and forced swimming induced changes in whole body cortisol content in adult zebrafish. Zebrafish were exposed to graded concentrations of atrazine or the atrazine degradates deisopropylatrazine (DIA), deethylatrazine (DEA) and diamino-s-chlorotriazine (DACT) for up to 10 days. Some fish were sampled for the measurement of whole body cortisol levels under basal conditions while others were sampled after being subjected to a 20 min swimming challenge in order to quantify stress induced cortisol levels.

Survival and iono-regulatory performance in Atlantic salmon smolts is not affected by atrazine exposure.

This study was conducted to determine the potential effects of atrazine exposure on survival and physiological performance in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) during the period of smoltification. This study involved two separate experiments in which juvenile Atlantic salmon were exposed to atrazine for a four day period in freshwater after which the fish were transferred to 50% seawater for two days and then to 100% seawater for five more days. The nominal concentrations of atrazine tested (1, 10 and 100 microg/L) were representative of and exceeded the levels measured in the North American freshwater environment.

Retinoid requirements in the reproduction of zebrafish.

This study examines whether retinoids are essential in the reproduction of zebrafish. Using RT-PCR, it was shown that the ovaries and testes express enzymes that synthesize and metabolize the hormone retinoic acid (RA) (raldh2 and cyp26a, respectively), and RA receptors (raraa, rarga, rxrba, rxrbb, rxrga but not rxrab). Three new isoforms of rxrba were also observed in a variety of tissues.