The fate of esfenvalerate was investigated by sampling and chemical analysis after spraying of an artificial pond (25 g a.i./ha) and in the laboratory with [14C]esfenvalerate by trapping of 14CO2 and fractionation of the sediment. The effects were investigated on pelagic communities in enclosures in a natural lake and in the laboratory on surface (Cymatia coleoptrata) and sediment (Chironomus r...

Genotoxic and ecotoxic assessments of widely used nanoparticles, cerium dioxide (CeO(2)), silicon dioxide (SiO(2)) and titanium dioxide (TiO(2)), were conducted on two aquatic sentinel species, the freshwater crustacean Daphnia magna and the larva of the aquatic midge Chironomus riparius. CeO(2) may have genotoxic effects on D. magna and C. riparius, given that the DNA strand breaks increased i...

An environmentally realistic method to test fullerene (C(60) ) toxicity to the benthic organism Chironomus riparius was created by allowing suspended fullerenes to settle down, making a layer on top of the sediment. To test the hypothesis that higher food concentrations will reduce toxic responses, two food concentrations were tested (0.5 and 0.8% Urtica sp.) in sediment containing fullerene ma...

Active transposable elements (TEs) may result in divergent genomic insertion and abundance patterns among conspecific populations. Upon secondary contact, such divergent genetic backgrounds can theoretically give rise to classical Dobzhansky-Muller incompatibilities (DMI), thus contributing to the evolution of endogenous genetic barriers and eventually causing population divergence. We investig...

Despite being considered a model organism in toxicity studies, particularly in assessing the environmental impact of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and other chemicals, the molecular basis of development is largely unknown in Chironomus riparius. We have characterized the expression patterns of important genes involved in the ecdysone pathway from embryos to pupa, but specially during th...

The aquatic ecotoxic profile of the fungicide pyrimethanil and its acute and chronic thermal dependence in two aquatic invertebrates Chironomus riparius and Daphnia magna were investigated. The ecotoxicity of pyrimethanil at optimal thermal conditions did not depend on the trophic level, but was species-specific. The acute pyrimethanil-toxicity on C. riparius increased with higher temperature. ...

Whole-transcriptome gene-expression analyses are commonly performed in species that have a sequenced genome and for which microarrays are commercially available. To do such analyses in species with no or limited genome data, i.e. non-model organisms, necessary transcriptomics resources, i.e. an annotated transcriptome and a validated gene-expression microarray, must first be developed. The aim ...

Midge larvae (Chironomus riparius) were exposed to sediments from a deposition sampled at a site along the Rhône River (France) downstream of an industrial site releasing various perfluorinated chemicals. This sediment is characterized by high concentrations of perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnA) and perfluorotridecanoic acid (PFTrDA) and a low perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) concentration. Conce...