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Updated: Jun 25, 2026
Using Caenorhabditis elegans for Studying Trans- and Multi-Generational Effects of Toxicants
Published on: July 29, 2019
Phenotypic and behavioral defects induced by iron exposure can be transferred to progeny in Caenorhabditis elegans
Ya-Ou Hu1, Yang Wang, Bo-Ping Ye
1Key Laboratory of Developmental Genes and Human Disease of Ministry of Education, Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, Jiangsu, China.
Objective:
Previous work has showed that excess iron accumulation is harmful to reproduction and even promotes death; however, whether the multiple biological toxicity of iron (Fe) exposure could be transferred to progeny remains unknown. The present study used Caenorhabditis elegans to analyze the multiple toxicities of iron exposure and their possible transferable properties.
Methods:
Three concentrations of iron sulfate solution (2.5 micromol/L, 75 micromol/L, and 200 micromol/L) were used. The endpoints of lifespan, body size, generation time, brood size, head thrash and body bend frequencies, and chemotaxis plasticity were selected to investigate Fe toxicity and its effect on progeny in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Results:
The Fe toxicity could cause multiple biological defects in a dose-dependent manner by affecting different endpoints in nematodes. Most of the multiple biological defects and behavior toxicities could be transferred from Fe-exposed Caenorhabditis elegans to their progeny. Compared to the parents, no recovery phenotypes were observed for some of the defects in the progeny, such as body bend frequency and life span. We further summarized the defects caused by Fe exposure into 2 groups according to their transferable properties.
Conclusion:
Our results suggest that Fe exposure could cause multiple biological defects, and most of these severe defects could be transferred from Fe exposed nematodes to their progeny.
