Tools for photomotor response assay standardization in ecotoxicological studies: Example of exposure to gentamicin in the freshwater planaria Schmidtea mediterranea

Anthony G E Mathiron; Lucia Rejo; Florian Chapeau; Jean-Michel Malgouyres; Frédéric Silvestre; Caroline Vignet

doi:10.1016/j.etap.2023.104242

Tools for photomotor response assay standardization in ecotoxicological studies: Example of exposure to gentamicin in the freshwater planaria Schmidtea mediterranea

Environ Toxicol Pharmacol. 2023 Sep:102:104242. doi: 10.1016/j.etap.2023.104242. Epub 2023 Aug 13.

Authors

Anthony G E Mathiron¹, Lucia Rejo², Florian Chapeau², Jean-Michel Malgouyres², Frédéric Silvestre³, Caroline Vignet²

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Evolutionary and Adaptive Physiology, University of Namur, 61 Rue de Bruxelles, 5000 Namur, Belgium; Institute of Life, Earth, and Environment (ILEE), University of Namur, Rue de Bruxelles 61, 5000 Namur, Belgium. Electronic address: anthony.mathiron@sfr.fr.
² Biochimie et Toxicologie des Substances Bioactives (BTSB), EA7417, INU Champollion, Place de Verdun, 81000 Albi, France.
³ Laboratory of Evolutionary and Adaptive Physiology, University of Namur, 61 Rue de Bruxelles, 5000 Namur, Belgium; Institute of Life, Earth, and Environment (ILEE), University of Namur, Rue de Bruxelles 61, 5000 Namur, Belgium.

PMID: 37573897
DOI: 10.1016/j.etap.2023.104242

Abstract

Photomotor response assay (PMR) is very useful in an ecotoxicological context because it allows evaluation of behavioral response to potential toxic compounds. However, a lack of procedure standardization makes results comparison difficult between labs and organisms. Here, we aimed to propose five different tools to standardize the PMR procedure so that it may be applied to all model species, regarding: (1) the minimum total sample size, (2) the acclimation period, (3) the number and duration of light and dark phases alternation, (4) the measured behavior, and (5) the statistical analysis. As an example of procedure application, we analyzed the effect of an exposure to the antibiotic gentamicin on the locomotion behavior during PMR in an invertebrate species: the asexual freshwater planaria Schmidtea mediterranea. We encourage future studies using PMR to follow these five tools to improve data analysis and results comparability.

Keywords: Behavior; Invertebrate; Linear mixed models; Locomotion; Pharmaceuticals; R software.

MeSH terms

Animals
Fresh Water
Gentamicins / toxicity
Mediterranea
Planarians*

Substances

Gentamicins