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. 2019 Jul 31;7(3):38.
doi: 10.3390/toxics7030038.

Roundup®, but Not Roundup-Ready® Corn, Increases Mortality of Drosophila melanogaster

Becky Talyn  1 , Rachael Lemon  2 , Maryam Badoella  2 , Darwin Melchiorre  3 , Maryori Villalobos  2 , Raquel Elias  2 , Kelly Muller  4 , Maggie Santos  2 , Erik Melchiorre  5
Affiliations

Roundup®, but Not Roundup-Ready® Corn, Increases Mortality of Drosophila melanogaster

Becky Talyn et al. Toxics. .

Abstract

Genetically modified foods have become pervasive in diets of people living in the US. By far the most common genetically modified foods either tolerate herbicide application (HT) or produce endogenous insecticide (Bt). To determine whether these toxicological effects result from genetic modification per se, or from the increase in herbicide or insecticide residues present on the food, we exposed fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, to food containing HT corn that had been sprayed with the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup®, HT corn that had not been sprayed with Roundup®, or Roundup® in a variety of known glyphosate concentrations and formulations. While neither lifespan nor reproductive behaviors were affected by HT corn, addition of Roundup® increased mortality with an LC50 of 7.1 g/L for males and 11.4 g/L for females after 2 days of exposure. Given the many genetic tools available, Drosophila are an excellent model system for future studies about genetic and biochemical mechanisms of glyphosate toxicity.

Keywords: Drosophila melanogaster; LC50; Roundup®; genetically modified food; glyphosate; herbicide tolerant.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Lifespan of Drosophila exposed to diets containing different types of corn. (a) Lifespan (± standard error) of males (△) and females (●) for each diet treatment. (b,c) Time course of mortality for females (b) and males (c) on each diet treatment.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Lifespan of Drosophila exposed to diets containing different types of corn. (a) Lifespan (± standard error) of males (△) and females (●) for each diet treatment. (b,c) Time course of mortality for females (b) and males (c) on each diet treatment.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect of diets containing different types of corn on reproductive behavior. (a) Proportion of pairs mating (± std. err.), primarily controlled by females, in Experiment 2, of flies reared on different diets as adults. (b) Amount of time spent mating (± std. err.) in Experiment 3, which varied both larval (●) and adult (△) diets independently. (c) Amount of courtship by males (± std. err.) in Experiment 3 depending on larval (●) and adult (△) diets.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect of diets containing different types of corn on reproductive behavior. (a) Proportion of pairs mating (± std. err.), primarily controlled by females, in Experiment 2, of flies reared on different diets as adults. (b) Amount of time spent mating (± std. err.) in Experiment 3, which varied both larval (●) and adult (△) diets independently. (c) Amount of courtship by males (± std. err.) in Experiment 3 depending on larval (●) and adult (△) diets.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Roundup® exposure in diet influences Drosophila mortality. (a) Female mortality (± std. err.) after two days and seven days of Roundup® exposure (nine days and 14 days post eclosion) at six concentrations. (b) Male mortality (± std. err.) after two days and seven days of Roundup® exposure. (c) Survival of females and males after two days and seven days of Roundup® exposure compared to the survival of flies exposed to control medium (± std. dev.). The light grey line indicates 50% survival and can be used to determine LC50 for two-days of exposure.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Roundup® exposure in diet influences Drosophila mortality. (a) Female mortality (± std. err.) after two days and seven days of Roundup® exposure (nine days and 14 days post eclosion) at six concentrations. (b) Male mortality (± std. err.) after two days and seven days of Roundup® exposure. (c) Survival of females and males after two days and seven days of Roundup® exposure compared to the survival of flies exposed to control medium (± std. dev.). The light grey line indicates 50% survival and can be used to determine LC50 for two-days of exposure.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effect of Roundup® and glyphosate concentration on reproduction. Number of trials in which vials contained larvae after adult females had been present from day 7 to day 14 after eclosion. Lack of larvae most likely indicates high mortality of eggs (before or after they are laid) or early instar larvae.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effect of the genetic background on sensitivity to Roundup® concentration. Survival of mixed-sex groups after two days and seven days of Roundup® exposure (nine days and 14 days post eclosion) at three concentrations of Roundup® Super Concentrate in food medium, compared to the survival of flies of the same age and strain exposed to control medium (± std. dev.). The light grey line indicates 50% survival and can be used to determine LC50 for seven-days of exposure.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Effect comparison of the effects of three herbicide formulations on relative survival. Survival of (a) females and (b) males after two days of herbicide exposure (nine days post eclosion) to three herbicide formulations in food medium, compared to the survival of flies of the same age and sex exposed to control medium (± std. dev.). The light grey line indicates 50% survival and can be used to determine LC50 for some formulations.
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