Glyphosate disrupts sperm quality and induced DNA damage of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) sperm

Abstract

As a widespread pollutant, glyphosate (GLY) adversely affects the aquatic environment and can impair the reproductive ability and functions of fish. The purpose of the current study was to assess in vitro effect of GLY on rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) sperm cells. The sperm cells were exposed to different GLY concentrations (2.5, 5, 10 mg/L). Sperm motility parameters were analyzed with computer assisted sperm analysis. DNA fragmentation (%) was measured by the comet assay using fluorescence microscopy. With increased GLY concentration, sperm motility and duration decreased after exposure. DNA fragmentation (% DNA in tail) in sperm cells was higher in treatments containing GLY than control (p < 0.05). Consequently, sperm cells are sensitive to low doses of GLY, and this can negatively affect natural populations.

Keywords:

• Glyphosate
• herbicide
• rainbow trout; Oncorhynchus mykiss

Acknowledgement

We appreciate the help of Prof. Dr. Erol Çapkin and Dr. Rafet Çağrı Öztürk, The Karadeniz Technical University, for helpful DNA damage analysis.

Author’s contribution

A.A.: investigation and data curation. M.K.: project administration, supervision, conceptualization, investigation, and funding acquisition. F.K.: supervision, conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, and writing—original draft.

Funding

This work was supported by Scientific Research Project Coordination Unit of Karadeniz Technical University (Project number: FYL-2020-8763) and summarized from Ayşe AKÇA’s master thesis.