Assessment of behavioural toxicity in dichlorvos-exposed Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

The extensive use of pesticides in agriculture and other household products have raised global health concerns due to their toxicity and adverse effects on humans and other non-target species. Dichlorvos (DDVP), an organophosphate pesticide, has become increasingly popular for its domestic, industrial and agricultural uses, however, it also raises a serious public health concern due to its unregulated and unrestricted use. Therefore, knowing the toxic nature of DDVP will be a great help to use it in a regulated manner. The present study was designed to examine the impact of DDVP exposure on animal behaviour, using a nematode species Caenorhabditis elegans. Exposure to C. elegans with varying concentrations of DDVP (5, 20, 45, 70, 90 µM) for 2 h induced a concentration-dependent reduction in feeding rate and altered locomotion in terms of speed, body bending, head thrashing, omega turn and reversal frequency. Thus, the present study suggested the behavioural toxicity associated with DDVP exposure and use of different behavioural parameters mentioned above as early biomarkers for toxicological studies using C. elegans.