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Updated: May 3, 2026

Studying Neurobehavioral Effects of Environmental Pollutants on Zebrafish Larvae
Published on: February 5, 2020
Exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of genistein during activation does not affect sperm motility in
Ethan D Clotfelter1, Hannah K Gendelman1
1Department of Biology, Amherst College, Amherst, MA 01002, USA.
Abstract:
Sperm collected from male fighting fish Betta splendens were activated in control water, water containing the ion-channel blocker gadolinium (a putative positive control), or water containing the isoflavone phytoestrogen genistein to determine the effects of acute genistein exposure on male reproductive function. Computer-assisted sperm analysis was used to quantify the proportion of sperm that were motile and the swimming velocity of those sperm. The highest concentration of gadolinium (100 μ M) tested was effective at reducing sperm motility and velocity, but neither concentration of genistein tested (3.7 nM or 3.7 μ M) significantly affected these sperm parameters. Our findings suggest that acute exposure to waterborne phytoestrogens during activation does not reduce the motility of fish sperm.
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