Laboratory testing for possible adverse effects of insecticidal proteins on non-target organisms (NTOs) is an important part of many ecological risk assessments for regulatory decision-making about the cultivation of insect-resistant genetically modified (IRGM) crops. To increase confidence in the risk assessments, regulatory guidelines for effects testing specify that representative surrogate ...

The present study was undertaken to assess the impact of a candidate mosquito larvicide, spinosad (8, 17 and 33 microg L(-1)) on a field population of Daphnia magna under natural variations of water temperature and salinity, using Bti (0.16 and 0.50 microL L(-1)) as the reference larvicide. Microcosms (125 L) were placed in a shallow temporary marsh where D. magna was naturally present. The pea...

We investigated the role of filament length of the toxic cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii on the grazing of Daphnia magna by providing different food mixtures. It was hypothesized that longer C. raciborskii filaments would reduce the clearance rates of D. magna more than shorter ones. Also, C. raciborskii was expected to have a stronger negative impact on the grazing of larger anim...

The microsporidium Octosporea bayeri can infect its host, the planktonic crustacean Daphnia magna, vertically and horizontally. The two routes differ greatly in the way the parasite leaves the harbouring host (transmission) and in the way it enters a new, susceptible host (infection). Infections resulting from each route may thus vary in the way they affect host and parasite life-histories and,...

We have developed a first version cDNA microarray of the cladoceran Daphnia magna. Through Suppression Subtractive Hybridisation PCR (SSH-PCR) 855 life stage-specific cDNAs were collected and used to document the toxicological mode of action of the pesticide propiconazole. DNA sequencing analysis revealed gene fragments related to important functional classes such as embryo development, energy ...

Daphnia magna and Daphnia pulex are well-established model organisms in the fields of ecotoxicology and toxicogenomics. Among the many assays used for determining the effects of environmental and anthropogenic stressors on these animals is monitoring for changes in their phototactic behavior. In most arthropods, histamine has been shown to play a key role in the visual system. Currently, nothin...

Although there is little doubt that hosts evolve to reduce parasite damage, little is known about the evolutionary time scale on which host populations may adapt under natural conditions. Here we study the effects of selection by the microsporidian parasite Octosporea bayeri on populations of Daphnia magna. In a field study, we infected replicated populations of D. magna with the parasite, leav...

In metapopulations, only a fraction of all local host populations may be infected with a given parasite species, and limited dispersal of parasites suggests that colonization of host populations by parasites may involve only a small number of parasite strains. Using hosts and parasites obtained from a natural metapopulation, we studied the evolutionary consequences of invasion by single strains...

Migration is the key process to understand the dynamics and persistence of a metapopulation. Many metapopulation models assume a positive correlation between habitat patch size or stability and the number of emigrants. However, few empirical data exist, and habitat patch size and habitat stability may affect dispersal differently than they affect local persistence. Here, we studied the producti...

Previous pathogen exposure is an important predictor of the probability of becoming infected. This is deeply understood for vertebrate hosts, and increasingly so for invertebrate hosts. Here, we test if an initial pathogen exposure changes the infection outcome to a secondary pathogen exposure in the natural host-pathogen system Daphnia magna and Pasteuria ramosa. Hosts were initially exposed t...