Bisphenol A affects larval growth and advances the onset of metamorphosis in Drosophila melanogaster

Exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA) has been reported to dysregulate endocrine pathways in a wide array of vertebrate species. The effects of BPA on invertebrate species are less well understood. We tested the effects of BPA on growth and development in Drosophila as these processes are governed by well-studied endocrine pathways. In this study, we tested the effects of three concentrations of BPA (0.1mg/L, 1mg/L or 10mg/L) and found a statistically significant increase in larval growth for the low dose treatment group (0.1mg/L), but not statistically significant for the high dose treatment group (10mg/L). BPA exposure resulted in an increased body size in treated animals at 48, 72 and 96h after egg laying (AEL). This finding reflects a non-monotonic dose-response that has been observed for an increasing number of endocrine disrupting compounds. The increase in growth rate found for all treatment groups was associated with a statistically significant increase in food intake observed at 72h AEL. Furthermore, we observed that the increased growth rate was coupled with an earlier onset of pupariation consistent with previously reported phenotypes resulting from increased activity of insulin/insulin growth factor signaling (IIS) in Drosophila. Since the timing of the onset of pupariation in Drosophila is controlled through the complex interaction of the IIS and the ecdysone signaling pathways, our findings suggest that BPA exerts its effects through disruption of endocrine signaling in Drosophila.