EFFECTS OF WATER QUALITY ON DEVELOPMENT OF XENOPUS LAEVIS: A FROG EMBRYO TERATOGENESIS ASSAY-XENOPUS ASSESSMENT OF SURFACE WATER ASSOCIATED WITH MALFORMATIONS IN NATIVE ANURANS

摘要

The purpose of this work was to determine if surface water from a site in Minnesota, USA, with malformed anurans was able to elicit adverse developmental effects in the frog embryo teratogenesis assay: Xenopus(FETAX)and to isolate and identify the factors responsible for the effects. In the standard FETAX test, 25 organisms are placed in a 10-ml volume of solution that is renewed daily. The organisms are assessed for abnormal development and the test is terminated at 96 h. Under these conditions, the site water adversely affected craniofacial development, gastrointestinal development, and growth.